Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met at the Elysee Palace with the President of France Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun and transitional President of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa, who participated in the meeting via teleconference.
During the multilateral meeting, current developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East were discussed, with emphasis on security, migration, interconnectivity and energy issues.
The Prime Minister placed particular emphasis on the security challenges that the region faces, as well as the common challenge of the refugee and migrant issue, especially for Lebanon, which is under increased pressure on the border with Syria, as well as Cyprus.
On Syria, Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated Greece’s stance for an inclusive Syrian-owned political process that will protect all ethnic and religious communities.
The Prime Minister expressed his dismay at the atrocities committed recently in northwest Syria against Christian populations and stressed the importance of full accountability. He reiterated Greece’s support for an inclusive Syria that respects all minorities and international law.
Regarding Lebanon, Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated to Joseph Aoun Greece’s readiness to assist Lebanon, both by supporting its Armed Forces and by offering expertise for the design and implementation of reforms needed so that the country can turn a new page.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that energy projects of common interest will contribute to stability in the wider region.
After the completion of the quadrilateral meeting, the Prime Minister made the following statement:
Georgia Skitzi (ERT): Mr. Prime Minister, this is the first time that a quadrilateral meeting is taking place, at the highest level, with France, Greece, Cyprus and Lebanon, and I wanted to ask you if this format could take, if you like, a more permanent form. What does it signify in relation to wider developments in the region? And one more thing: how did the discussion with the Syrian transitional President go?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: First of all, I think it is very important that France is present, actively present, in the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and that this strategic relationship, which has great historical depth, between France and Lebanon, now includes our two countries, Cyprus and Greece, countries that are both factors and pillars of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. And of course, I believe that this format will have continuity and depth over time, as our interests in the broader region are perfectly aligned.
We discussed in this context the support we can provide to Lebanon and its new government. It is extremely positive that, after many complicated procedures, Lebanon now has a government and a new President, who needs our support in order to stabilise his country, because a stable Lebanon is a barrier to refugee flows to Europe, but also a country that can play a stabilising and not a destabilising role in the broader Middle East.
In this context, we reiterated our willingness to support the Lebanese Armed Forces in practice, so that they can exercise national sovereignty, especially in the sensitive southern Lebanon. And I want to reiterate that it is very important, that the ceasefire that has been agreed is maintained by all sides, so that a new front of hostilities does not reopen in southern Lebanon.
Beyond that, yes, I had the opportunity for the first time to talk to the new President of Syria and I conveyed to him in no uncertain terms, not only Greece’s strong interest in the Orthodox Christian populations in his country, but also my disgust for the crimes, for the massacres that took place a few weeks ago.
I clearly called for accountability and exemplary punishment for the guilty and expressed my hope that the new Syrian government, which will be announced tomorrow, will be an inclusive government that incorporates Syria’s great ethnic and religious wealth.
Because if Syria wants to move forward and prosper and become a factor of stability and not destabilization in the region, it must do so with absolute respect for all religious and ethnic minorities, in this extremely complex “mosaic” of religions and ethnicities that constitutes today’s Syria.
And I also reiterated that Greece can only agree to a further lifting of sanctions on condition that there is an absolute guarantee of inclusiveness of the political process and the protection of all minorities.
And I believe that this is the spirit in which the rest of our interlocutors moved and we agreed on a text that will be ready by this evening, which will set out a clear road map of how the new Syrian government should proceed from now on, what it can expect from us, but also what we ask from it.
Therefore, to conclude, I think it was a very useful and meaningful meeting. I repeat that it is extremely important for France to be present in the Eastern Mediterranean and to talk to countries that are traditionally France’s military partners, so that we can always find solutions that will be in the interest of the overall stability and prosperity of our region.
