Member of Parliament from Chania Dora Bakoyannis, who is also the sister of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, made a polemical statement against Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which she asked not to participate in international forums headed by him and not to conclude long-term energy agreements with Russia.
On the contrary, she stated that the Mitsotakis government intends to proceed with an agreement with Turkey on the delimitation of the EEZ and the settlement of the continental shelf. In other words, this agreement will be concluded with a country that does not recognize international law and calls for restrictions on Greece's sovereign rights.
Dora Bakoyanni, Chairperson of the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee, made these statements while speaking at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly held in the Court:
“Greece remains committed to resolving outstanding issues with all neighboring countries through peaceful means, always in strict accordance with international law, including the Law of the Sea and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), both of which are vital for a maritime country like ours.Our bilateral relations have improved significantly over the past 15 months.”
“At the operational level, violations of our national airspace have ceased, and at the political level, numerous meetings have taken place at all levels, including between Prime Minister Mitsotakis and President Erdogan. Strengthening cooperation between our two countries has already brought positive results in various fields, in particular in migration and tourism “, she added.
She noted that these developments provide optimism that a window of opportunity has emerged to address deeper policy issues.
“Greece is determined to reach a peace agreement on our only dispute with Turkey: the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ), in accordance with international law. Our ultimate goal is to reach a maritime delimitation agreement based on mutual goodwill, similar to the agreements we successfully negotiated with other neighboring countries such as Italy and Egypt in 2020. If bilateral negotiations fail to resolve this issue, Greece’s position remains unchanged: we must refer the delimitation issue to the International Court of Justice in The Hague,” Bakoyanni said.
“As NATO allies and neighbors in a region fraught with challenges, I believe our countries have a moral and strategic obligation to resolve this issue in accordance with international law and put old disputes behind us“, – she said, without specifying which “old” controversies she was referring to.
Speaking about Ukraine, the former minister said that if we do not support Ukraine in its fight against Russia on Ukrainian soil, then we may soon find ourselves in a situation where we are defending our allies on their own soil. “If we allow Putin's revisionist aggression to succeed, it will empower not only Russia, but also all those who seek to rewrite international law by force“, she said.
“When we strongly support Ukraine’s right to exist in the face of Russia’s aggressive war, impose sanctions and pay the price for our position, we cannot at the same time conclude long-term energy agreements with Putin in our countries or participate in international forums that he leads .
Likewise, when our allies on both sides of the Atlantic devote enormous resources, both material and human, to fighting terrorist organizations and ensuring stability in the Middle East, we cannot harbor, let alone fund, those same terrorists on our soil or training them. Supporting terrorists who act against the interests of our allies not only endangers the countries they target, but also undermines the security of our own allies.” – Bakoyanni said.
https://rua.gr/news/gospol/64128-d-bakoyanni-nam-ne-sledovalo-vvyazyvatsya-v-vojnu-na-ukraine.html
Finally, speaking about Greece's role in the region, she noted that the country is a pillar of stability in South-Eastern Europe, the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. “As a trusted regional partner, Greece acts as a bridge for NATO engagement with its southern neighbors“, she said.
https://rua.gr/news/sobmn/50691-d-bakoyannis-my-nakhodimsya-v-sostoyanii-vojny-s-rossiej.html
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