Katrougalos accuses Mitsotakis of coup in Greek foreign policy

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made “serious mistake“,”turning the time-tested doctrine of Greek foreign policy on its headturning Greece into an outpost of the West, the shadow foreign minister of the main opposition, SYRIZA, said Friday.

At the round table of the 3rd party congress in Faliro, Georgios Katrugalos, former Greek foreign minister in the SYRIZA government, said that the traditional doctrine [Греции в отношении России] began with the visit of the then Prime Minister Konstantin Karamanlis to Moscow in 1979.

This doctrine considers Greece as a source of stability and security, as a peace-loving country that is an adherent of international law, said Katrugalos.

3ο Συνέδριο #ΣΥΡΙΖΑ– @gkatr: Το μεγάλο σφάλμα του κ. Μητσοτάκη ήταν ότι ανέτρεψε ένα διαχρονικό δόγμα της ελληνικής εξωτερικής πολήτικhttps://t.co/nmnaYNC2Pf pic.twitter.com/QR0ILASWqf

— ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ (@amna_news) April 15, 2022

Greece is not a country of “equal distances,” he stressed. “And while its political base is the European Union, it still strives to serve as a bridge between its political base and other great powers.”

In this sense, Katrugalos said, Mitsotakis decided to return to Greece the traditional right-wing role of the “outpost of the West”, thereby turning the country into a part of the Ukrainian crisis, which is not only unacceptable for reasons of national principles and values, but also because there is a historical precedent for the Turkish invasion. on the Cyprus.

The Shadow Cabinet Foreign Minister stated that Russia’s goal is not to revive the tsarist empire or the USSR, but to prevent its encirclement by NATO, which it considers an aggressive act.

The goal of Greek foreign policy should be to end the war in Ukraine, he said, warning that “te, who calls for a change in the Russian leadership, in fact, are ready to sacrifice the Ukrainian people to their political ambitions”.

In this context, Katrugalos called for a diplomatic solution to the war, and not for the West to drag Ukraine into the war to the end.

“Indeed, we should be worried,” Vangelis Apostolakis said bluntly at the same table.

The honorary head of GEETHA and former Minister of National Defense believes that “the war will continue for a long time and with very bad consequences for all mankind”. He spoke about the global crisis, which “very dangerous because the nuclear powers are very close to colliding“.

“The 21st century already has its own Cold War, which, if heated up, will be very dangerous for the entire planet.“, – he said.

Mr. Apostolakis also noted that “Russia invaded Ukraine to prevent it from joining NATO, as well as to ensure the autonomy of the eastern regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, to confirm its sovereignty over the Crimea, to block Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea, since it is in the Sea of ​​Azov, stressed that Russia will not leave Ukrainian territory if the purposes for which she entered are not achieved.”

According to the former minister, “Moscow is focusing on the eastern sector, because it is close to its southwestern border and it is easier to support its army there, and that it will continue not to bomb the cities, but to operate in open areas“.

Mr. Apostolakis wondered, “was the war, as it unfolded, part of Vladimir Putin’s original plans, or was it changed as it developed without a quick end”.

He also asked, “Will Western military aid reach the defending Ukrainians?.

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