N. KOTZIAS: Mr. President, dear Mr. President, dear Ministers, Secretaries General, Ministry personnel, new Ministry Personnel arriving from the Diplomatic Academy, welcome, parents and friends of our young diplomats.
I think that one of the happiest moments one can experience as a Minister, and at the same time as a university professor -- and I imagine the same holds true for our President -- is to welcome new personnel to the Ministry, to be able to wish them a good journey as they represent the country with courage, knowledge and frankness.
We have 15 young people arriving with their dreams, at what is in our opinion -- and it couldn’t be otherwise -- the country’s best Ministry and, I would say, one of the very good Foreign Ministries globally.
We are talking about our young diplomats who will represent our country abroad, work and fight, under difficult conditions, for a country that went through a long economic crisis -- I would say, the longest post-war economic crisis. A country that acts and moves in a region of instability where, as I stated on my return from Libya the night before last, we were able to pick up the thread of history and restore all of our relations creatively, productively, upgrading the country.
They will live in a time when, amid much information, they will have to identify ignorance, lies and propaganda here at home and, mainly, abroad, and creatively seek the truth, defend what is right, what is just, and our interests.
At the same time, always remember, young diplomats, that however right we are in what we say, we always have to say it in a way that sounds right to the ear we are addressing, because, as the poet says, the ear doesn’t hear in the same way that the mouth speaks.
We not only have to have justice and what is right on our side, but we also have to know how and when to say it. That is, we need to learn about and understand the other side, and we need to have, deep in our souls, the sense of patriotism and constitutional democracy, and not, of course, of false nationalism. Even more so, we must not accept the nationalism of the other side.
I believe that you are coming to a Ministry that, with all the problems of the time and of the institution, provides you with a large family, affection, knowledge. We have extremely good diplomats from whom we all have much to learn.
It is a Ministry that had no problem -- over the past two years -- combating the corruption that had accrued. We are proud to have sent 91 cases to the prosecutor, from illegal payments to NGOs to personnel who got involved in situations with visas and other illegal activities.
You, my good young diplomats, hold on to what is good at this Ministry. Resolve never to adapt to the negative aspects you will come across and to always state your opinion frankly. Your knowledge is a good thing, it is vital to our being able to avoid mistakes and better enrich our policy as a Ministry. Silence is necessary only when needed, and it is not always golden.
Together, we have to fight back against any failings and defend the good of this land and its laws. And it is a great honour for our Ministry, for you and me, to have with us the President of the Republic, a person who is the living embodiment of diplomacy, who makes us feel proud every time he represents the country, and to whom, if I may, I want to give the floor. Mr. President, welcome to our Ministry.
P. PAVLOPOULOS I want to thank the Foreign Minister, the whole leadership of the Foreign Ministry, because once again you are giving me the opportunity to talk to the young attachés. I did the same last year, and at a very critical moment, in fact. But I remember, and I say it to my dear friend, Mr. Kotzias, and to all of you who were here with us last year as well: What we said then is being put into practice. When your colleagues took the oath last year, Greece was being shaken by the troubles that we got through and that will not be repeated. I say this to you and to the relatives who are here with us. And I am pleased that you are here with us, showing your support for these young attachés as they begin this journey.
What I am going to say comes from my heart. I assure you. There is no artifice. It is the truth. You should be aware that this Ministry has a long history. Consider the fact that all of this land’s great successes in foreign policy were achieved through close cooperation between political leaderships and the diplomats, the Greek diplomats, who proved themselves worthy of the homeland. With the highest example -- and this is what we must focus on at this time -- being how Eleftherios Venizelos achieved the great success of the Treaty of Lausanne. Eleftherios Venizelos at that time had with him diplomats, starting with Nikolaos Politis, who worked silently, but through the wisdom they had and their dedication to duty, they achieved things based on which the country came out larger and with defences for the future. And if the subsequent troubles, which in many cases were due to our own mistakes, had not impeded things from going as initially planned, Greece’s fortune would have been even better. But we must learn from mistakes.
Remember this: You are setting off on a career in the Diplomatic Service, the Hellenic Diplomatic Service, to which our country owes a great deal. So, you have this legacy, and it is precious at this time. Because you are entering the Diplomatic Service at a very critical time, not just for our country, but also for our wider family, Europe and the whole world.
The great advantage that we have today is that, in the European Union, together with our national issues, we also defend European issues. Because you know that Greek National Issues are now also European issues. And it is good for Europe to realise this, because Greece is not struggling solely for its national interest. It is struggling for the interest of the whole of Europe. And the threats emerging today concern not only our country, but also Europe. Allow me to give you two examples that show that these times are critical and turbulent, as well as that you, from here on in your careers, have important weapons with which to defend the homeland, Europe and international legality in general.
And I will take two current issues, the Cyprus problem, on the one hand, and the Treaty of Lausanne, on the other. First of all, let me make it clear that we Greeks, on all of these issues, have what we might call a ‘doctrine’: We do not claim anything that isn’t ours. Moreover, Greece has never carried out campaigns of conquest. And the great campaign of Alexander the Great, I want you to remember, was not a campaign of conquest. It was more a campaign of acculturation. So, because we have this mindset, we did not endeavour to create empires. The empire of the Hellenic Spirit is enough for us.
So, in this context we lay no claim to anything that isn’t ours. But neither are we willing to relinquish, even in the slightest, what belongs to us based on international and European law. This is the foundation from which we begin. So I bring forth these two examples, and I know that I am perhaps being a little tiresome, but it is better that we should repeat things so that they are understood.
The Cyprus issue. First of all, the Cyprus problem is not a Greece-Cyprus issue. It is an international issue and, of course, a European issue par excellence, given that Cyprus is a full and equal member of the European Union and of its hard core, the Eurozone. With regard to the Cyprus issue, Greece and Cyprus present a united front. And this was proven recently, moreover, with regard to our lines, which are also European lines. So, with regard to Cyprus, one thing is clear. We are pursuing the resolution of the Cyprus problem, and we have been doing so for years. There must be a solution to the Cyprus problem. A just solution, a viable solution. But for this to happen, there has to be full respect for international and European law. Without this respect, we aren’t talking about a solution, but about the dissolution of any state that might arise. This requires, beyond the other issues, that first and foremost we fully respect the notion of the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus. We respect the sovereignty, but what sovereignty? That sovereignty that corresponds fully to international and European law. The notion of sovereignty is currently formulated based on international law, but also, for the states of Europe, based on European law. From your studies at the Academy, you will already know that article 4, paragraph 2, of the Treaty of European Union clearly defines this concept of sovereignty. It is the full and unconditional ability of each state to ensure its territorial integrity and safeguard its national security. I am using the terminology of article 4, paragraph 2, verbatim.
So, any solution cannot but respect this notion of sovereignty. Because otherwise the solution will violate the notion of sovereignty according to international and European law, and, I assure you, it will create an extremely dangerous precedent for the whole of the European Union. Because what would hypothetically happen in a Republic of Cyprus with deficient sovereignty could be repeated for any other European Union state. So, when we and Cyprus have this stance, we are defending the sovereignty of the states of the European Union. This has to be made clear to our partners, who must adopt this position as a European position.
This notion of sovereignty does not accept, in any case, occupation forces, and nor, of course, does it allow for guarantees. So we make it clear that we are pursuing the solution, and we will defend this solution. Just as I also want to stress this, because we’ve been hearing a lot in recent days: There is no “Turkish Republic of Cyprus”. There is a Turkish invasion and occupation. There is a Turkish occupation army. There is no such state entity. This is what international law says, this is what European law says, and to this there can be no objection -- there is no disputing this. And I stress that this in no way means that we want to clash with our neighbour Turkey. But I say, we claim nothing, but we also relinquish nothing.
And on the second issue, the Treaty of Lausanne, to which I referred earlier -- here, too, things are extremely clear. Because this issue, too, which also concerns Greece’s relations with Turkey, is a European issue. We don’t forget that the Treaty of Lausanne is an integral part of international law. How international agreements are revised is the ‘ABCs’ of international law. We need to know this well, and you know it very well. The fact that some people ignore it is their problem.
Perhaps there are some who also think all this is trivial -- why am I dealing with this? I assure you, on national issues, which are also European issues -- I repeat once again -- there is nothing trivial. These, too, must be dealt with, because these issues can start out in the form of a ‘review’ on the international level, but if we don’t take appropriate care, they can quickly become tragedies. And we Greeks are not prepared to put up with this. We will not allow it, and the implementation of international law and European law cannot succumb to any manner of populist Sirens. And those who do it will know that, even if they send messages that this is ostensibly for domestic consumption, for us it isn’t a matter of domestic consumption. The response will always be there. So the Treaty of Lausanne is an integral part of international law. There is no possibility, in any version of events, of its implementation being called into question or of there being an issue of its revision. This Treaty, fully in force, determines Greece’s borders as well as the borders of the European Union. Any disputing of this Treaty, much less its violation, constitutes a disputing and violation of the borders of Greece and the European Union, and naturally it will not go unanswered.
I stress all of this, saying sincerely to our neighbour Turkey, ‘we are here,’ we were the one’s who extended a hand of friendship in times of difficulty. Even with the latest troubles, when Democracy was jeopardised in Turkey, through the coup. We are ‘the door’ and ‘the window’ of Europe. And we say this because it is only through peaceful coexistence that we can overcome the problems that both peoples have. But we need to remember, peaceful coexistence, friendship, is based on respect for international law. If some people believe that international law is the same as law of the powerful, they are making a big mistake. By its nature, international law is the law of equality and is founded on the principle of pacta sunt servanda. If they are unaware of it, they should learn about it. If they’re not unaware of it, but want to use it for there own ends, I reiterate, we will not stand for it. And history has taught us that the strength of peoples does not depend on size. It depends on their resolve and, mainly, on their unity. That is why, at such times, we must all be united, especially when we are dealing with issues of this kind.
So I wish you all -- with your qualifications and the conscientiousness and resolve of your predecessors -- a successful career. I have confidence, and we have confidence, in your abilities and your dedication. My warm congratulations. May you be strong, and may God be with you.
December 2, 2016