Thank you very much for the great honour to be invited today to the Economist Conference. It is a unique forum for a high-level exchange of opinions in order to highlight the common problems that afflict us and look for answers and ways forward that are necessary in our lives for the prosperity of today as well as the prosperity of future generations.
Many thanks to Nektaria Pasarivakis and Daniel Franklin and to all the staff of the Economist. It is also a great pleasure to talk with two friends of Greece, two prominent personalities, Wess Mitchell and David Harris, who have distinguished themselves through a lengthy career in politics and economics.
Today we should be mainly discussing the interaction between global, regional and national levels and how this interaction is shaping a modern world, a new method of decision-making and how, at the end of the day, a modern multi-level governance is able to successfully respond to the challenges that overwhelm us. However, given the circumstances, I will confine myself to a few words on this regional and global issue, and then focus on the current and more important issues of our foreign policy, particularly, the Middle East crisis, which is at the centre of attention.
Allow me to say the following. Under the circumstances, the concept of issues of national, regional and universal interest has been completely diluted. There is no issue that can be considered exclusively national or regional or even universal. Due to the interaction of all these levels, any crisis has an impact on a national level, on a wider level or on a global level. I believe it is the current major challenges that are shaping the context: It is the climate crisis, which we have all experienced in the most painful way. It is the food crisis, aggressiveness, public health, and migration. The five contemporary challenges, which all share three features. The first is that, in fact, they have no time or location. They are both supra-local and timeless. The repercussions of these five major challenges affect us all, no matter where we are or what time we live in.
Furthermore, the second shared feature is the breaking down of the certainties that we had. We are all witnessing wars in our neighborhoods that we had almost forgotten about after decades of relative calm, particularly in Europe. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has, I believe, highlighted in the strongest possible way that revisionism is at our door and that nothing can be considered certain or safe.
Of course, another point is that the global crises that arise are not always dealt with global solutions. I recall the Secretary-General of the United Nations stating during the last United Nations General Assembly in New York that compromise has become a dirty word. We find it difficult to be able to sit down and discuss problems that are common, that affect us all, that affect today and tomorrow. We have great difficulty in adopting a deliberative stance towards things, so that we can find beneficial solutions. We ought to be deliberative, to approach issues with caution and, above all, to consider the future, not just the present, today or yesterday.
Consider recent days through the lens of Greece's foreign relations. The Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union convened in Luxembourg yesterday. The topics on the agenda were actually issues that cannot be confined to the region where they arose: the war in Ukraine, the crisis in the Sahel region, in Africa, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the crisis in the Balkans, with particular focus on the one unfolding in Kosovo, the crisis at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, and of course, the Middle East. Each of these crises has an initial point of origin but have a massive spill-over effect.
The Middle East presents a significant challenge and test for all of us, since it is an issue at the forefront of the foreign policies of all Western and Arab countries.
From the very beginning of the crisis sparked by Hamas' attack against Israel, Greece took a principled and clear position.
First of all, we unequivocally condemned all forms of terrorism, violence, and inhumane treatment, asserting that the entire, civilized world must do the same. We said that there should be no hostage-taking, which in essence degrades human dignity insofar as individuals are used as tools of blackmail between states.
We stated that civilians should not be targeted. We said that we must ensure humanitarian corridors, providing humanitarian aid to all vulnerable people.
Lastly, we proposed that this issue must be addressed in an international conference to be convened under the auspices of the United Nations and attended by all major players and interested parties. This stance of ours led us to gain strength, be sincere, and earn significant diplomatic capital. Due to this firm stance, Greece can now boast that it communicates with the Arab world and converses with Israel, being credible in what we say.
We will consistently advocate for the peaceful resolution of disputes. Today, marking the anniversary of the United Nations’ establishment, which underscores the peaceful resolution of disputes, the upholding of the rule of law and the safeguarding of human rights, we need to ensure the right of states to defend themselves against attacks, as defined by International Law.
For Greece, the Middle East issue needs to be on the agenda and at the international forefront. We need to work on a solution as outlined by decisions and resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, supporting a two-state solution including a sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. And yes, it should be ensured that every state has the right to enjoy peace, calm, and integrity within its borders. Terrorism, in any form, cannot be tolerated by anyone.
In this regard, I would like to emphasize that Greece’s foreign policy will remain a principled policy. It will neither become conjunctural nor transactional. Because for us, diplomacy and foreign policy primarily pertain to the interests of our country. But it is also a moral imperative for us to support justice, democracy, and prosperity.
Thank you very much.
October 24, 2023