Journalist: Let’s welcome Foreign Ministry spokesman Gregory Delavekouras. Good afternoon.
Mr. Delavekouras: Good afternoon.
Journalist: How are you?
Mr. Delavekouras: I’m fine. How are you? We’re in Berlin.
Journalist: In Berlin. Since you’re in Berlin, let’s start with that, because we learned that Foreign Minister Droutsas is meeting with his German counterpart.
Mr. Delavekouras: Mr. Droutsas met early this morning with the German Foreign Minister. The main topic of discussion was, understandably, developments in Libya. We naturally discussed other issues: the economy, the EU’s handling of the crisis, ahead of the European Council. But the main subject was the situation in Libya.
Journalist: Yes. Now, what can you tell us on that? What came out of that meeting, given the stance of Germany, which doesn’t want to be involved in the overall operation.
Mr. Delavekouras: Right now, the situation is this: We have a very important resolution from the Security Council – Resolution 1973 – which demands an immediate ceasefire and protection of civilians. So, the international community needs to implement this resolution; it needs to demand an immediate halt to the hostilities, which we see has not yet happened. We have information that the military operations are continuing. Beyond that, there are two discussions going on: one at NATO, the NAC, where we are waiting to see what developments we have, what NATO’s involvement will be in the implementation of Resolution 1973.
Journalist: Yes, because there were a number of diplomatic hurdles. That is, the situation in NATO is a little strange with regard to the stance of some member states, and I wanted to say that the UN Security Council has already convened in a closed meeting today.
Mr. Delavekouras: With regard to NATO, the deliberations have in fact hit some snags. NATO has proceeded to the planning for humanitarian operations and the implementation of the arms embargo and the no-fly zone, but its still hasn’t concluded on the activation of these plans. We expect the discussion to continue today, and we will see how things develop. On the EU level, yesterday we had a decision from the Foreign Ministers, in Brussels, that the EU will essentially undertake a major role in the humanitarian sector, in the provision of humanitarian aid and the provision of civil protection.
Journalist: Yes, and it remains a big question – beyond the problems that have been created within NATO – who will lead, what will be done and what won’t be done. There is a big question, Mr. Delavekouras, as to what the goal of the management of this whole crisis is. What is the goal, beyond the protection of civilians, of course, raising a very big question, given Qaddafi’s stance, when he his creating human shields at probable targets?
Mr. Delavekouras: You are exactly right. This is, of course, a political, a journalistic analysis. But beyond interpretations, we have to focus on the substance. Resolution 1973 says clearly what the goals are: protection of civilians and an immediate ceasefire. Those are the obligations the international community has undertaken, but the limits of its action are also stipulated, and we have to stick to that. This is Greece’s view, and this is what we want to see happen, because we cannot forget what the situation in Libya is right now. We can’t forget that this past Saturday there was a danger of our having attacks in Benghazi. There is the humanitarian pressure, the anxiety of these people, the civilians in a very difficult position, and we have to deal with this. This is what Resolution 1973 is trying to do.
Journalist: We read the statements of the U.S. general, Mr. Ham, who is leading the U.S. forces participating in the operations, and he said that, yes, Qaddafi himself is not the target; he doesn’t have orders for a direct attack on the Libyan leader, but he added that the forces loyal to Qaddafi and the bases near Benghazi are the targets. There is, of course, a very big question mark about the day after, give the question mark about the goal of this whole deal.
Mr. Delavekouras: It is a fact that this situation right now is difficult. We will have to see how things develop. Allow me to come back to what is stipulated by international legality, that is, the Security Council resolution. We shouldn’t stray to far from this, because it is exactly the line drawn by the Security Council, and it is in fact the imposition of a no-fly zone and the taking of all necessary measures to protect civilians. This is the mission, and that is the boundary we have to stay within.
Journalist: Can I ask something else, Mr. Delavekouras? I had a talk with Professor Koutsis earlier, and I said that Greece, like Cyprus, has traditionally had very good relations with the Arab world in the broader sense. Are we pursuing some role in this crisis that has been created?
Mr. Delavekouras: Greece continues to have very good relations with the Arab world; relations of respect, relations of trust. Due to its geographical position and the fact that it serves a foreign policy of principles and values, Greece has the trust of the Arab world and needs to play an upgraded role in the region. We have very important developments throughout the region. Moving beyond Libya, right now, in North Africa, there are major developments: for instance, we had the referendum in Egypt over the weekend.
Journalist: Of course.
Mr. Delavekouras: And for essentially the first time, we had the Egyptians able to go and vote in a democratic process for a new Constitution, to change their country. It is certain that after these developments, we will be talking about a new Middle East, and our country will play a key role in this Middle East, because Greece is a de facto bridge of communication between the Middle East and Europe, and because Greece is a country with very close ties, and we have to create a new partnership with all of these countries …
Journalist: I think it’s a good opportunity, Mr. Delavekouras.
Mr. Delavekouras: Precisely. I hope we can really turn this whole, very bad situation we see today into an opportunity. Though, as I said, the immediate priority is to stop the hostilities in Libya and protect the civilians.
Journalist: Thank you very much for this chat. Good afternoon. Take care.
Mr. Delavekouras: Thank you. Take care.
March 22, 2011