N. KOTZIAS: The 2nd Conference for Security and Stability in the Eastern Mediterranean was held successfully in Rhodes.
Last year, 11 states and delegations participated, and this year we had 20 delegations: 10 states from the Arab world, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council – two international organizations of the Arab world – as well as Indonesia, as an observer. We also had 7 EU member states and European states participating.
The Rhodes conference is one of the initiatives we have promoted, as the Foreign Ministry, and it is one of the 14 new international institutional actions we have put together. It is one of the three initiatives that go beyond the EU space and the existing trilateral cooperation schemes.
We recently held a meeting of the Ancient Civilizations Forum, in Athens, with 9 participating states: From China to Bolivia and Peru. At the meeting we held here, we had bilateral meetings with a number of states – particularly with Egypt and Bulgaria – and we decided together with Bulgaria to move ahead with two new trilateral cooperation schemes: One includes Greece, Bulgaria and Armenia, and the other is comprised of Greece, Bulgaria and Georgia.
We also agreed to promote an idea I have had for some time now for the cooperation of the four Balkan EU member states with the four Visegrad countries. That is, we will have regular meetings on the future of Europe between the Visegrad countries and the Balkan EU member states.
Of course, the main subject of our Conference was security and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. We don't mean security solely or mainly in its hard sense. We mean security in all its forms, which include maritime security, environmental security, transport security and the creation of new cooperation networks.
In general, the content of the Rhodes initiative, like that of the other initiatives we have taken in international politics, is a positive agenda. That is, how we can develop cooperation and networks among these 20 states and organizations taking part.
We agreed that the 3rd Rhodes Conference, which will take place at the end of June 2018, will focus on a discussion of the creation of a security framework and structure in the Eastern Mediterranean, along the lines of the CSCE and the OSCE that we have in Europe.
So that we can capitalise on our experience and promote this cooperation.
At this Conference, we are very interested in issues of what are called 'soft power' and 'soft security', smart security and smart power. We included two things: one is the preparation of the OSCE of the Eastern Mediterranean, and the second is the promotion of specific collaborations.
Regarding the specific collaborations, we have taken a number of decisions, which are:
First, to create a team of experienced diplomats that will guide our work in the intervening time, until summer 2018.
Second, to set up a working group of young diplomats that will move ahead with the various plans we have decided to implement. These plans include cooperation between universities and research centres of the member states participating in this initiative. There is cooperation in the economic sector, particularly on tourism and transport, but also support of SMEs. We may also choose new technologies and the pharmaceutical industry. There is cultural cooperation, a field in which we support Egypt's initiative for the hosting of a Mediterranean film festival, headed by a committee drawn from the states that will be participating in this initiative.
We have also agreed to cooperate on the issue of migration and to hold a forum in Lebanon on the subject of migration and refugees.
Cyprus has undertaken to organize a meeting on blue economy; that is, maritime economy, and a meeting of young people. At the same time, there are a number of other initiatives.
Our spirit – and I think this is the main thing I want to be understood – is that this institutional entity we are forming is not just another meeting between Arab and European countries. It is not a meeting between the European Union and the Arab League. It is a single grouping of Arab and European states. And this grouping is based on the large traditional space of Southeast Europe, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, where there have been cultural and economic contacts for 4,500 years now. Contacts that – if they were possible in those times, when there were major transport, cultural and economic problems in comparison with today – it is imperative we develop today, shaping these new structures, these new transport, cultural and economic networks, and networks for combating terrorism.
Given that we are endeavouring to stabilise the Eastern Mediterranean region, on the security issue we would like, in the future, to expand to the south and east.
We took a serious step. We formed another international organization, on Greece's initiative, and we are meeting with a greater response than ever before. This response shows that our country's standing and the recognition of its role is greater than ever before. Thank you very much.
FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: We will give the floor to the local media, who have embraced this initiative from the outset.
JOURNALIST: (off microphone)
N. KOTZIAS: Rhodes has a tradition of linking the European and Arab spaces. I remind you that the wonderful building still stands where, in 1948, the negotiations were held on the formation of a state of Israel and Palestine.
Rhodes is also a space and a point on the horizon where the most diverse cultures met; cultures that coexist in the composition of this Conference. Geographically, Rhodes is a star linking all of these regions and states. I hope that next year and in the future there will be more extensive air links between Rhodes and the participating states, so that our access to this meeting is easier.
Regarding the refugee and migration issue, as I already said, we decided to hold a special forum in Lebanon, which will be one of the many meetings in preparation for our Conference in 2018.
That is, we decided that, between now and our next meeting, we will hold a number of preparatory meetings, which will really facilitate the achievement of our goal for 2018. I hope we will be able to stabilise and, in the future, impart momentum to this initiative for peace, stability and security.
JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, how easy is it, after all, for two different worlds, the Arab and European worlds, to sit down together and talk? What problems have you come up against in these initiatives of yours?
N. KOTZIAS: The difference with these meetings is that they aren't meetings between Europeans and Arabs. This is a meeting of the Eastern Mediterranean neighbourhood, in which we have coexisted for thousands of years now.
When we launched this initiative, the risk was that we didn't know what kind of response there would be from the other states. This year we have doubled the participation of last year, and this is in spite of the fact that most of the Arab Foreign Ministers were in Riyadh the previous day for a scheduled meeting with the U.S. president, Mr. Trump. Nevertheless, they came. And you will have seen that the Libyan representative even arrived this morning, and he had to go from Riyadh back to Tripoli, and then come to Rhodes via Athens.
JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, why do you consider this initiative for a proposed new security structure in the region necessary, and how do you see future participation in this new security structure of countries that are key to the region's stability, like Palestine and Israel?
N. KOTZIAS: The reason this meeting is termed "Eastern Mediterranean" is precisely that these two countries are not invited. The reason is that we wanted to start with a positive agenda. Everyone knows that we end up talking about the conflicts in the Middle East – the wars in Syria, Iraq – whenever European and Arab states meet.
There are hundreds of international events that deal with these issues. We wanted to turn the agenda around and discuss the positive things. How can we develop networks of cooperation on research, culture, education between our universities? How can we give some scholarships and promote joint research programmes?
How can we develop transport? A transport network developed in this region 4,000 years ago, when, at some times, the transport network was more extensive than today. What we aspire to do, in other words, is to restore a geographical, social, cultural space with long traditions; a space that, because of the Arab world-EU divide, has lost its dynamic.
We have to re-impart this dynamic to the region. And allow me to share a general thought with you. Greece has been through economically difficult years. In my opinion, these years do not have to do with just the European Union or with just our domestic policy.
In my opinion, they have to do with the environment the country found itself in. Our three neighbouring countries were in a state of political instability. Fortunately, they are moving towards stability now. Bulgaria has a new government. Albania has elections in a month. Our northern neighbour, Skopje, has already held elections.
We have a restless neighbour that went through the ordeal of an attempted coup, and we have, more widely, the conflict in Ukraine and, closer to home, the wars in Syria and Iraq, the conflicts in Yemen and Libya.
It is obvious that this environment does not help us in the direction of more cooperation and the growth of our economy. So we have to actively change the agenda as much as we can. We have to bring out positive elements of consolidation and economic, social and cultural synergies to create a better environment for our economy.
That is, beyond the issues of peace, security and relations with other states, there is an issue of particular interest to Greece: the environment in which Greece's society and economy are developing. And we have to improve this. We are in a position to consciously help matters in this direction.
JOURNALIST: You had some bilateral meetings within the framework of this Conference. Would you like to give us some details regarding the bilateral meetings you had?
N. KOTZIAS: It was a great pleasure to see the new leadership of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, and we are very pleased that, following Brussels, where she carried out an unofficial visit, her first official visit came with the Rhodes Conference.
We had a long meeting with the Bulgarian delegation. I told them what we have done to date, how we need to move ahead with all of the things we did with the previous leadership for the stability and development of the region. And I also set out for them the new proposals that arose from the trips I have carried out in recent months, and these proposals were the trilateral cooperation schemes with Armenia and Georgia, and the meeting with the Visegrad countries. I think the response from the Bulgarian leadership was very, very positive and that we will move toward greater and more intensive cooperation between the two states.
Allow me to make an historical observation. In Europe, we often talk about the good cooperation between France and Germany; that, thanks to the European Union, they overcame 150 years – some say 200 years – of conflicts and tensions between the two states.
I underscore that, if there is a model for a change in the flow of history – a change from conflicts to deep friendship – it is the relations between Greece and Bulgaria. From the Bulgarian occupation during World War II to the fact that, at one time, to become the emperor of Byzantium you had to be called "Bulgar slayer".
There is nothing left of all this in our relations, and this is why I believe that Greece and Bulgaria are a much better exemplar – with a history of hostility going back 1,500 years – than France and Germany.
What's more, we had a very important bilateral meeting with Egypt – a meeting I will be continuing following the press conference – with which we have well-developed economic relations. For the first time, we had meetings with Oman, which wants to have more intensive contacts with us. We also had a broader meeting with Indonesia, which asked to have a more upgraded presence in this Conference in the future.
I remind you that Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, with a population of 280 million, and is one of the emerging 'tigers'. It is one of the countries – like Vietnam, which I visited recently – to which we must pay great attention for our special economic interests.
We also met with Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia. What interests us a great deal is good preparation for their participation in the next international Conference we are holding on a Greek initiative, on 1 and 2 November this year, which concerns – and this is the second such meeting – the protection of the cultural and religious communities in the Middle East.
Because, as you know, wonderful religious and cultural communities are being lost to the wars in Syria and Iraq – Christian populations in the region, in particular – and we have to protect those communities and given them a future in the region.
JOURNALIST: A few months ago, my concern was whether, in the end, you would manage to go beyond the standard promises of politicians and implement what you wanted from the outset: For there to be this Conference for stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean. You are showing us, some eight months later, that you set your goal and achieved it. What is the next goal at the Foreign Ministry, given that you are collaborating with states whose value to democracy is not all that clear? That is, you have to negotiate this very sensitive political issue of the democracy of these states. Thank you.
N. KOTZIAS: It is true that our foreign policy is very interested in democracy, our democratic visions, the values we have and our principles, included in which are human rights. And it is well known that if you take the measure of many of the societies further south than Greece, you will not find that they meet our standards.
But I have two things to note on this matter. First, these societies are open societies; that is, they are societies in which major changes really are happening. The last time I was in the Emirates, it impressed me that I saw women fighter pilots. And this indicates an open society.
And the second thing I have to note – I say it bitterly and pointedly at the same time – is that defence of human rights has to first safeguard human lives. If there are no people, there is no point in talking about rights.
Why do I say this? Because some countries in the West carried out military interventions in Syria. Half a million people have been lost in Syria, 12 to 14 million have been displaced, they don't have homes, they cannot secure food for their families or futures for their children, and I ask myself to what extent we – not Greece, of course, but the West – defended human rights through this disaster.
This is why I continue to say that our primary goal is human life, respect for human life. And for there to be human life and respect, it is very important for their to be stability and security in the region.
I want to say that, if someone tries – we won't allow him – to destabilise Egypt and, behind Egypt, Sudan, which is in a civil war, and, further down, Somalia and so on, he will cause the movement of 150 to 200 million people. And we won't see the refugee flows we saw from Syria or the other Muslim countries. We will be facing tens of millions of people on the move.
I recommend to all our partners in the West not to try it. It's good for us to contribute to stability and security, to good cooperation, and every democratic aspect will have our support. But not the other way round. Not destroying human lives in the name of democracy. Because the half a million people who were lost in the civil war and interventions in Syria are no longer enjoying any kinds of rights.
I want to take this opportunity to say something else: our thinking on development and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean is associated with a principle. In the future, we must not allow outside players to intervene in our region and use it as a testing ground for ideas and wars.
JOURNALIST: I want you to say a few words about the people who helped organize the Conference.
N. KOTZIAS: Thank you very much. First of all, I want to thank the Foreign Ministry itself and those who were on the front lines in this project.
Second, I want to thank the Rhodes Regional Unit and the Governor of Rhodes, who was our host yesterday evening at the very beautiful castle of Rhodes.
I would like to thank the Hellenic Post, which honoured us with a special postage stamp. I want to thank them because these postage stamps will carry the message of the spirit of Rhodes – as it is called by my Arab friends and colleagues – throughout the world, wherever Greek mail goes. This is our second collaboration with the Hellenic Post, because special postage stamps were also printed on the occasion of the Ancient Civilizations Forum that Greece held together with the People's Republic of China.
I want to thank the Secretariat General for Information and Communication and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) for spreading our message to every corner of Greece. And of course I want to thank the Rodos Palace Hotel, which hosted us in a manner that satisfied our demanding Protocol Directorate, which I want to thank in particular. I want to thank Mrs. Baltas, our ambassador, and Mrs. Vagena, both of who did a great deal of work concerning protocol.
I want to thank our diplomats and experts for preparing the texts and documents for this Conference. Once again we see that genuine and good people are needed to implement good ideas.
JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, yesterday we had a terrorist attack in Manchester. I'd like your comment on that.
N. KOTZIAS: This morning I made a statement to the journalists who were good enough to be waiting for me at the entrance to this hall. I came in, made a statement at the meeting, and we had a minute of silence. And we had the minute of silence not just because there were victims of a terrorist attack, but also because their were young children among the victims.
And, you know, the way I see it – because I myself am a parent – is that there is no more terrifying thing for a parent than losing his child. Because the loss of the young generation is absurd, it is outside of the rational order of things, and contrary to nature.
We should go before our children do. Lives do not matter to terrorists – not even the lives of young people. In this sense Manchester shocked us. It shocked me personally, and I believe that terrorism, which is used to take lives when some supposedly god-fearing people play the hand of God, is the most terrifying and horrifying thing there is in human life.
I believe no human being has the right to take the life of another human being. No human being can decide about the lives of others. In this sense, our Ministry always supports and does whatever it can to show solidarity with the countries, peoples and families that suffer such losses.
I cannot but express my sadness once more; everyone's grief at such terrible incidents.
Thank you very much.
May 23, 2017