Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos made the following statements on the margins of the extraordinary meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council:
DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ
On the feast day of the Assumption of Mary, here in Brussels, our thoughts are with the Christian populations of Iraq and the whole of the Levant, as the region is traditionally known.
This region is inconceivable without its Christian communities, without the coexistence of all the religious and ethnic groups and communities. This is of very great importance for Iraq, for its existence as a state. We must stop the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as it is known, because Iraq must not be transformed into a terrorist state that causes the long-term disruption of the region, to which we are very, very close.
So we must directly confront the acute humanitarian crisis and the major security issue that exist in the region. Greece cannot provide military means, but it can contribute humanitarianly, as well as contributing political support, within the framework of national and European strategy.
MIDDLE EAST
In the Middle East, there needs to be a durable truce. A truce that will enable the two sides to return to the negotiating table, to resume the dialogue on Middle East peace, based on two states that live side by side, with a return to the 1967 borders and with the acceptance of both the Egyptian initiative and the American peace plan for the region.
It is also vital that we look at how to implement the proposal of the three European states – France, Germany and the UK – which, in general terms, is accepted and supported by Greece and the other member states of the European Union.
As Greece, we have already sent very significant humanitarian aid, and we are prepared to contribute to treating the children and adults who have been wounded as victims of the situation in Gaza. Our military and public hospitals are open and ready to receive the children of Gaza and of the wider region
THE SITUATION IN UKRAINE
This is also a very critical day for Ukraine, because we have to look at how to proceed with the humanitarian aid missions to areas of eastern Ukraine, where there is heavy fighting under way. We would like to hope – and we are making efforts to contribute in this direction – that there will be an agreement between the Russian and Ukrainian governments, with the help of the International Red Cross, as well.
We attach very great importance to the role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as well as to the role of historical NGOs, like the International Red Cross. And today, which is a very important day for Orthodox Christianity, Greece sent diplomatic and political messages to both the Russian and Ukrainian governments: that, as an Orthodox country, Greece is at their disposal to contribute – to the best of its ability, because we know what level the consultations are taking place on – to there being a peace plan that will allow for de-escalation in the region.
This directly impacts both the matter of sanctions and the matter of the collateral losses for the European Union resulting from the Russian countermeasures. Greece has maintained a very cautious stance throughout this time. The international community and all of the involved parties are aware of how careful and responsible our stance is. But our producers, our farmers, have been hit hard, and, as I have said from the very outset, the State will stand by their side to cover these losses, through the European community mechanisms and, with the community’s permission, through supplementary national measures. But here we need to find a solution that really allows for restoring the smooth functioning of the international market.
August 15, 2014