Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos made the following statement following the proceedings of today’s EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels:
“The management of migration flows in the Mediterranean was one of the central issues of today’s Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. As you know, one of the main priorities of the Greek Presidency in the first half of 2014 is horizontal maritime and Mediterranean policy, which includes security issues. The migration flows are a humanitarian issue, but they are also a security issue for the whole of Europe, and especially for us, the countries of the European south.
It is thus of very great importance that there be a European initiative regarding Libya. Libya is unfortunately in a state of crisis, one step away from institutional dissolution and territorial disintegration. We therefore have to think of more drastic and courageous solutions for overseeing the Mediterranean coasts across from the European countries in order to achieve substantial results.
We also talked about the Eastern Neighbourhood. We see it as very important that this policy include all the countries, such as Azerbaijan, with which we have a very good relationship, due to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). We exchanged views on the major pending issues, such as the situation in Syria, and of course we talked together with the Defence Ministers about the outlook for Common Security and Defence Policy. One basic point is the European Defence Industry and, thus, the Greek defence industry, which we must maintain at all costs as a component of our defence policy.”
November 18, 2013