Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos made the following statement following today’s meeting of the National Council on Foreign Policy:
“The National Council on Foreign Policy is a relatively new organ that is provided for by the Constitution as an institution for shaping the national strategy, as well as national consensus, on major issues of foreign and security policy.
There is political and social tension in the country. There is acute political contention. Nevertheless, at today’s meeting of the National Council on Foreign Policy, there was a climate of shared perception, seriousness, consensus regarding strategic directions and individual foreign policy moves, and I think this is very important, because national unity is what can enable us to turn a new page as a country.
I had the opportunity to brief all those present on the developments of recent months, as well as on our strategic planning – because whatever we do on a given issue is part of comprehensive planning – on the major international issues, on the Cyprus issue, the Skopje issue, on Greek-Turkish relations, on the situation in the Middle East and in North Africa, on our southern neighbourhood, on the perspective of the eastern neighbourhood, on EU-Russian relations, and on Greek-U.S. relations.
All of these issues are linked to the economic state of affairs. What is important, and what all Greeks must hear, is that, fortunately – and this is a very, very important attainment for our national sovereignty – the past four years of the crisis, despite our carrying out tough economic negotiations from an unfavorable position, neither asymmetrical nor unfair pressure has been exerted on us with regard to our foreign, security or defence policy issues. This is of great importance for the core of national sovereignty and national dignity.”
January 27, 2014