E. VENIZELOS: It is a great pleasure for me to welcome the new Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Stoltenberg, to Greece, to Athens and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Mister Stoltenberg is a great political personality for Europe. He has served for a number of years as Prime Minister of Norway and he was in charge, he was the Head of Socialist Party in his country. As a result thereof, he is capable and he is prepared to exercise his duties as Secretary General of NATO and he has the political sensibility and perceptiveness that is required at this point in time, since the Alliance is now faced with many new challenges, as we are at a time with and unheard of, an unprecedented number of crises, both in our southern and the eastern neighborhoods.
We had the opportunity to have an analytical, an elaborate discussion with the Secretary General on all issues that are of specific interest to Greece, as regards its participation in NATO. Greece is an old and reliable member of the Alliance and has been so for the past 62 years, and we continue being a reliable and active member of the Alliance, for the Euroatlantic policies are a steady and fixed frame of reference that ensures our national interests.
I had the opportunity to brief Mr. Stoltenberg on the situation in Cyprus, in the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone. I also briefed him on yesterday's tripartite meeting we had in Nicosia with my peers from Cyprus and Egypt.
We also had an opportunity to have a discussion on the latest developments in Ukraine. We also had the opportunity to talk about the open crises in the Middle East and Northern Africa and the challenges that the Alliance is faced with.
Greece is taking part in NATO missions. We will go on taking part in such missions. Greece is one of the very few NATO countries that over-deliver in terms of defence spending, despite the fiscal and general financial crisis we are faced with.
And I also had the opportunity to explain to Mr. Stoltenberg all the historical reasons for which the Greek people, Greek society, expect NATO to show its solidarity as regards our own issues and our own sensibilities.
And I am certain that Mr. Stoltenberg, with his political ability and capacity indeed understood pretty well what our priorities are; what our sensitivities, sensibilities and expectations are.
Generally speaking, this was an exceptionally friendly discussion that touched on the essence and substance of things, and let me also take this opportunity to commend Mr. Stoltenberg on his new post and let me wish him all the best for success in his work.
J. STOLTENBERG: Thank you so much, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Venizelos. It is a great honor to be here and to meet with you again and to continue our cooperation, and let me start by thanking Greece for your unwavering support for NATO, for so many years and in so many different ways.
I have just seen your servicemen and women in action at the scene. They play a wider role in keeping Greece safe, in keeping all allies safe, and keeping NATO strong. Your forces also play an important role in Kosovo and in our mission in Afghanistan and we are really grateful for Greece's contribution to our security in the Mediterranean region, particularly in our operation Active Endeavor.
Today we have discussed a wide range of issues and we have also addressed the serious security challenges we face to the South and in Eastern Europe. We welcome the decisive actions taken by the coalition of countries who are going together in fighting the terrorist group ISIL, and this coalition includes many NATO allies, among them Greece, and I think it is an important effort the coalition is doing to fight ISIL and their terrorist activities. Extremism is contributing to violence and instability throughout the Middle East and it can export terrorism to our nations.
We call on Russia to end its destabilizing actions in Ukraine and to withdraw its forces from Ukraine, and to make general efforts to ensure that the ceasefire is respected. The planned holding of so-called elections by the armed separatist groups in Eastern Ukraine would undermine the Minsk Agreement and would not contribute to a peaceful solution in Ukraine.
These different challenges in our neighborhoods make clear why we need a strong NATO. So we are working to turn the decisions we made at our Wales Summit into reality, and one of those key decisions is the Readiness Action Plan. This will make our forces more agile and able to deploy quickly wherever and whenever threats emerge.
I know that I can count on Greece and that Greece is a strong ally, and I appreciate very much to have this opportunity to discuss these and many other important issues with you. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Secretary General, given the instability in the Eastern Mediterranean, could you please comment on the moves of Turkey as regards the violation of sovereign rights in the Cypriot EEZ, given that this was a violation on behalf of a NATO member, and how do you expect this crisis to deescalate?
J. STOLTENBERG: I urge all parties to show restraint and to focus on what are the important challenges we are really facing as an Alliance, and that is the threats coming from the South, from the instability we see in Iraq and in Syria, and also the more aggressive policies we are seeing from Russia. And therefore, I think it is even more important than before that we are able to stay united within the NATO Alliance, all allies, and that we are able to give a firm and clear answer to the threats and challenges we see coming outside NATO, and therefore I urge all to show restraint in this region, to avoid any tension between NATO allies.
E. VENIZELOS: Allow me to pick up from where the Secretary General just left off, if I may. I had the opportunity to explain to the NATO Secretary General that the solution is always one single solution; i.e., respect for international law and especially the International Law of the Sea.
I also had the chance to tell the Secretary General and also highlight the fact that the real problem unfortunately lies with the refusal of Turkey to acknowledge and recognize the existence and the international personality of the Republic of Cyprus, which is a member of the EU, of the UN, and is recognized by the entire international community. It is as simple as that, and solutions can be as simple as that.
JOURNALIST: Good morning. I have a question for Mr. Stoltenberg. On the occasion of yesterday's air force exercises by Russia, which were characterized as unusual by the Alliance, could you please make a comment on whether you expect the Alliance's relationship with Russia to get back to the relationship we had back in the Cold War, or maybe there is still scope to return to regular, normal relations instead.
J. STOLTENBERG: First I would like to underline that what we saw yesterday just confirms a pattern we have seen during the last year, and that is a pattern with increased air activity by the Russian Air Force along NATO's borders. We are seeing increased air activity by Russia, but NATO remains vigilant and ready to respond, so the numbers of intercepts by NATO aircrafts to intercept Russian aircrafts have also increased substantially. Actually, during last year, so far this year it has been over 100 intercepts of Russian aircrafts, and that is more than three times as much as we had during the whole of last year, so we have seen a substantial increase, but we are doing what we are supposed to do: we intercept, we are ready and we react.
We are not in a Cold-War situation, but the behavior of Russia has undermined a lot of trust and has rolled back very much of what we have tried to create as a more cooperative and constructive relationship between Russia and NATO ever since the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. So, we have a very clear message, and that is that we need to keep NATO strong, we need to keep our forces ready. Therefore we are investing in high readiness, in new capabilities, we are implementing the Assurance Measures, which also means that we are increasing air policing as an answer to the increased air activities we have seen from Russia, and this strength is the answer we need to engage toward Russia and to be very clear in our answer to the increased military activities we have seen from Russia's side during the recent time.
October 30, 2014