The EU Summit, which begins shortly, has on its agenda a series of extremely crucial issues for our European Union.
Allow me to begin by welcoming the fact that the Secretary-General of the United Nations will be present today at noon and to take this opportunity to express my satisfaction with the results of the five-party conference in Geneva.
Cyprus and Greece have fought and succeeded in keeping the process of discussions for the reunification of the island alive, within the framework of the decisions of the United Nations and its Security Council.
And I consider it extremely positive that the Secretary General chose to appoint a personal envoy, so that this process can be kept alive and continue with specific deliverables in view of the next meeting, which will take place in the summer.
I also want to focus in particular on issues concerning European defense. I would like to welcome the European Commission’s submission of the White Paper, which includes established Greek positions, which will now become EU policies.
I am referring, in particular, to the possibility of giving budgetary flexibility to member states, so that they can increase their investments in defense, but also to the creation of a common European fund of 150 billion euros to finance investments in defense, which will promote European strategic autonomy and essentially limit these expenditures to countries that are either members of the European Union or have concluded strategic partnership agreements with the Union.
It is another important step for European strategic autonomy and a standing position of Greece which is today being vindicated.
Finally, we will have the opportunity to discuss immigration issues, where again I want to express my satisfaction with the fact that the proposed returns regulation is drafted in line with the established Greek positions, which give priority not only to the external security of the European Union’s borders but also to the rapid process of returning those who have not been granted asylum in a European Union country to the countries from which they come.
Hence, we await with great impatience, I would say, the new list of safe countries of origin, so that our country can also move more quickly in this direction.
And the clear directive that I have given to the new leadership of the Ministry of Migration is precisely based on the logic that anyone who enters our country illegally and has not been granted asylum, i.e. does not benefit from international protection, should be returned to the country from which they came. And it is very important now that we also have European regulatory tools, which will make it easier for us to implement this policy.
Journalist: Prime Minister Mitsotakis, what do you think about the White Paper?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I am happy about the content of the White Paper. I have been advocating for quite some time for the need to give more fiscal flexibility to the member states to spend more on defence and I see that this is included in the White Paper. We hope that it will soon be approved by our Ministers of Finance.
I’m also happy about the initial scope of the SAFE facility. However, at some point we need to have a more serious discussion as to whether these financing options will only include loans, as is currently the case, or whether we are also willing to move in a more ambitious direction towards the provision of grants to European member states in order to make the important investments that they need to do in order to ensure that our common European defence reaches the point which we aspire.
Journalist: (Inaudible)
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I think it’s a very important step in the right direction. First of all, I’m happy about the fact that member states now will have more fiscal flexibility, within the confines of the Stability Pact, to spend more on defence. We’ve been advocating for this position, and we expect it to be finalised very soon. We have a four-year horizon to increase our defence spending. This is very important because we have very strict fiscal rules and we need more fiscal flexibility to invest in defence. So this is very positive.
Now, on the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) facility itself, I’ve always been in favour of the principle of “buying European”, but I also need to point out that maybe we need to be more ambitious. This should not just be a question of loans, as is currently the case. I think we also need to seriously discuss the possibility of a joint borrowing facility that would also offer grants to member states in order to make defence investment decisions in line with the logic of the SAFE facility, as it has been proposed by the Commission. I would urge us to be even more ambitious, although I think it’s an excellent first step.
Journalist: How are you, therefore, trying to convince your colleagues?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Well, let’s see. Thank you.
