Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis participated in the International Summit on Peace in Ukraine, in Bürgenstock, Switzerland.
In the framework of the Summit, the Prime Minister participated in the breakout session on food security.
During his address, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the significant global impact of the war in Ukraine on food security around the world and the importance of the uninterrupted provision of basic food supplies.
The Prime Minister noted that the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes and the export corridor developed by Ukraine have expanded exports, stressing that Greece supports the creation of additional routes to facilitate the transport of Ukrainian agricultural products, as well as projects to enhance the capacity of the Solidarity Lanes and their direct access to the Aegean Sea.
Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis added, will continue to do everything possible to enhance food security by providing maritime transport or storage and distribution centres.
The Prime Minister underlined that the maritime transport routes, both in the Black Sea and the Red Sea, must remain open for global food supply, adding that Greece, with its merchant fleet, has a particularly important role on this front.
The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of joint efforts in order to prevent destabilisation of markets and food prices.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis then addressed the plenary session of the Summit, where he noted:
“Dear colleagues, a year ago it was not obvious that this Peace Conference would take place. Certainly, Russia did everything it could in order to prevent it from happening. Yet today, 101 countries and international organisations are represented around this table, demonstrating, as the Prime Minister of Netherlands said, that the war in Ukraine is indeed a global issue, for various reasons.
Probably the most important one, which was discussed in our breakout sessions, a question of food security. When we hear the President of Kenya mentioning the impact of the availability and price of fertilisers has had on its own farmers, we understand the tremendous implications of this war on global food security.
Of course, I would like to express my satisfaction that in the conclusions in the joint communique, we have highlighted the importance of maintaining free and full and safe commercial navigation and supporting Ukraine in order to protect its ports and its infrastructures. I was with Volodymyr in Odessa, when a Russian missile actually struck the port. The protection of Ukrainian infrastructure is absolutely critical in maintaining the level of Ukrainian exports, which in turn are absolutely critical in order to maintain global prices of food.
The second and probably most important reason why this war has become a global issue is the fact that we’re all here to demonstrate our commitment to a rules-based international order, to confirm the primacy of the UN Charter, to send a very clear message that sovereignty must be respected, that borders cannot be changed by force, that international rules and norms must be upheld, that countries and people have a right to choose their own form of government and determine their own destiny and their own future, that nuclear safety cannot be endangered, that food cannot be weaponized.
We speak about a just and lasting peace. But I think we can all agree around this table that this peace cannot be a result of Ukrainian capitulation. That is why Greece, with many other countries, will continue to support Ukraine to defend itself in order to get to the point of having a credible negotiation reaching a just and lasting peace.
Finally, let me stress the importance of compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law. This is an absolute priority, not just in Ukraine, but in Gaza, in Sudan. We must, above all, prioritise the protection of civilian population, ensure the safe return of unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred children, as well as the release of unlawfully detained civilians, and the further exchange of prisoners in war.
Again, congratulations for making this Peace Conference a reality”.
On the margins of his two-day participation in the Peace Summit in Switzerland, the Prime Minister met with the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, the President of Moldova Maia Sandu, the President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader and the Prime Minister of Andorra Xavier Espot Zamora.
