Nikos Meletis (ERT): Mr. Prime Minister, we have seen here as well that Mr. Mickoski continues to ignore the warnings of both Athens and international actors for the faithful observance of the Prespa Agreement in terms of the use of the constitutional name. Is the Greek Government considering making use of the provisions of Article 19 of the Agreement, which provides for a specific procedure in the event that violations are found?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I had the opportunity, Mr. Meletis, to inform my colleagues about the fact that the Prime Minister of North Macedonia has chosen not to implement a crucial article of the Agreement regarding the single name of the neighbouring country vis-à-vis everyone and to call his country “Republic of Macedonia” within the country, which is obviously explicitly forbidden by the Agreement.
I want to point out, of course, that inside the room and in the presence of all the NATO leaders, he did not follow this tactic and used the constitutional name of his country.
Beyond that, I believe that one way or another the leadership of the neighbouring country will realise that this tactic is totally counterproductive. Agreements must be honored. This is something I emphasized yesterday at the NATO plenary and I think all our allies understand this.
We want North Macedonia to take steps towards European integration, but this obviously requires respect for international law and respect for the agreements that the country has signed. I believe that, in one way or another, the leadership of Skopje will understand this.
In any case, Greece will not reveal at this moment the weapons it has at its disposal to respond to any potential insistence by the neighbouring country’s leadership on this tactic.
Giannis Kantelis (SKAI): We saw you talking yesterday with Mr.Erdoğan and you raised the issue of Cyprus, the fact that it remains divided after 50 years. We see a movement on the part of the United Nations, you yourself will meet tomorrow with Mr. Guterres on the Cyprus issue.
First of all, whether there was any reaction also from Mr Erdoğan’s side on this issue when you raised it. And secondly, whether we should expect some immediate developments around the Cyprus issue and the resumption of the dialogue.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: First of all, the Greek Government and I personally have expressed our satisfaction that there is another initiative of the United Nations.
Indeed, the Personal Envoy has submitted her first report to the Secretary-General. I do not know the details of its content and therefore, I cannot comment on it.
The Greek Government, nevertheless, continues to support the resumption of talks between the two communities, obviously on the basis of the UN resolutions. It is a position from which Athens and Nicosia, Nicosia and Athens, do not deviate.
I will have the opportunity to be in Cyprus on the evening of July 20, invited by President Christodoulides, to participate in an event that will take place at the Presidential Palace.
Beyond that, I will also discuss tomorrow with the Secretary-General how he can be involved in another effort, which we believe is imperative, so that this great wound can finally be closed. Fifty years after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Cyprus must finally cease to be the last divided island within European territory and there must be a just, viable and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue.
Nikos Armenis (MEGA and ANA-MPA): Mr. Prime Minister, I will also insist on the Cyprus issue, in view of your meeting tomorrow with Mr. Guterres, and he also has Mrs. Holguín’s report. There have been rumours lately, strong rumours, a strong rumour of a multilateral meeting coming up. Are these rumours true and, if so, what shape will it take?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Let me say something about that, Mr Armenis. As I said, I do not even know the details of the content of Mrs Holguín’s report. What is imperative at this moment is to start talks between the two communities.
George Papaconstantinou (Action24): Mr. Prime Minister, a reference in the interview you gave to Ms. Schadlow in the context of the NATO Public Forum has caused strong reactions, but also criticisms in Greece from the main opposition, which accuses you of “admitting gaps” in Greece’s defense, on the occasion of the strengthening – which we support – of the Ukrainian defense. What is ultimately the case and how do you respond to these criticisms?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: But I never said that. And I would like to take this opportunity to remind all those who circulate this kind of misinformation of two facts.
The first is that Greece has surplus material to support Ukraine, always with the agreement of the National Defence General Staff and the Ministry of National Defence. And I have said many, many times that in no way these moves that we are making call into question the deterrent capability of the country. Therefore, on this point, I don’t think there is any possibility whatsoever of misinterpreting my statements.
I also want to point out that some of the material that we have is material that may soon expire in terms of its operational capabilities and we would end up paying money, additional money, a lot of money, to destroy the material.
So much for those who spread these rumours. After all, those who insist on peddling such scenarios are well known.
My second broader observation is: let us finally evaluate objectively the capabilities of the Armed Forces in 2024 and compare them with the capabilities of the Hellenic Armed Forces in 2019. The country has systematically invested in strengthening the Armed Forces after a decade-long crisis. We are one of the countries that spends the largest percentage of GDP on strengthening the Armed Forces.
It is worth just seeing the Rafale jets flying in the Greek skies, the Romeo helicopters that are already operating, the rapid upgrade of the F-16s, the Belh@rra frigates, which will join the Navy in 2025 and 2026, to realise if the country today is really more powerful and more secure than it was when the Greek citizens entrusted us for the first time, in 2019, with the governance of the country.
Thanasis Tsitsas (ANT1 and Real News): Mr. Prime Minister, if there is any development within the NATO Summit, in relation to the initiative that you took with your Polish counterpart on the European air defence shield. And the second question: how do you respond to the criticism that the delivery of F-16s to Kiev constitutes a dangerous escalation?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Regarding our initiative, I would like to remind you, Mr. Tsitsas, that it is a European initiative. But what I think was also made clear at this Summit is that Europe must do more to strengthen its own defence capability. To spend more resources but at the same time to do it in a smarter way. And that this does not undermine NATO, but instead strengthens NATO.
And that it is very likely that in order for us as Europeans to be able to ensure our own defence, we will have to look for other financial instruments beyond national budgets, which de facto have their limits, especially in a period of fiscal tightening at the European level.
That is why the proposal that I put forward with the Polish Prime Minister also has a European funding dimension. I would like to stress that we are not there yet, we have not reached a European agreement on this, but it is a proposal that has been heard positively in many European capitals.
Beyond that, I want to be clear that Greece has no F-16s in the F-16 initiative. There are other countries that have made this choice. But our purpose is to enable Ukraine to defend itself in the most effective way.
I imagine you also saw the scenes of the horrific Russian attack on a children’s hospital a few days ago, the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine. This is the reality that Ukrainians are experiencing.
And if we want to talk about a sustainable and just peace, we should know that this peace cannot be achieved under conditions of Ukraine’s capitulation. And if Ukraine is not to capitulate, we must all continue to support it.
I believe this is a message that has been sent out very strongly by all my colleagues, with one exception – you can probably guess who this is. But NATO is united in this effort to support Ukraine so that we can get to the point where we can talk about a just solution, but with dignity and relative equality.
Georgia Garantzioti (OPEN and CNA): Mr. Prime Minister, you answered my first question just now, about the F-16s. So following on from that question, again on Ukraine, I would like to ask you whether Greece, as well as other countries, has been asked to reinforce Ukraine with anti-aircraft systems, for example, the Russian-Soviet-made ones that we have in Greece, which can be replaced by NATO missile defence systems, by American, by Patriot.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I have reiterated that Greece will not provide Ukraine with either Patriot or S-300 systems. We have provided other types of anti-aircraft systems, of shorter range, always – let me repeat this – with the agreement of the National Defence General Staff, in order to support Ukraine in this very difficult battle that it is fighting.
Dimitris Soultogiannis (STAR): Mr. Prime Minister, we saw that the Alliance is giving the F-16s to Ukraine. Was there any concern among the allies about the reaction of Russia, which has already started to make public statements? Also, the second question is that we saw that you had some face-to-face meetings with President Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whether any of our national issues were discussed, even “on the hoof”.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I think I have already answered you on the issue of the F-16s.
It is always on the margins of these summits that we have the opportunity to discuss, even if only briefly, issues that concern us. And with President Biden briefly, but also a little bit more extensively with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, we reaffirmed the excellent level of Greek-American relations and discussed some common challenges and the issues that concern us, of course, in the wider Balkan region.
