Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Tech Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, at Maximos Mansion.
During the meeting, issues related to Ms. Virkkunen’s portfolio were discussed, with an emphasis on artificial intelligence and European AI Factories, cybersecurity, the EU’s response to disinformation campaigns, and the need to strengthen EU defense technology.
With regard to strengthening common European defense, the Prime Minister reiterated the need for European funding for flagship projects of common interest in defense.
Greece’s strategy for the transition to artificial intelligence was also discussed, as well as the fact that our country was selected for one of the first AI Factories in Europe (“Pharos”), which will be developed around the “Daedalus” supercomputer.
Furthermore, they exchanged views regarding the protection of minors on the internet and the debate concerning the establishment of a common age limit for access to social media, as well as on the initiatives undertaken by Greece in this direction.
Finally, Greece’s compliance with the European Media Freedom Act was discussed, given that in the coming weeks, following the passing of a relevant bill that is already under public consultation, Greece will be the third EU country which -following on from everything already recognised in the European Commission’s annual report on the rule of law- will be in full compliance with the regulation.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister and the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission had the following dialogue:
Kyriakos Mitsotakis:Dear Vice President, very good to have you in Athens again. We have such a full agenda. I feel we would need an entire day to cover everything, but I understand you’ve already had very constructive discussions with our team.
So, lots to talk about, innovation and simplification efforts. I’m eager to see how we can support your initiatives, issues related to the progress that we have made when it comes to our AI infrastructure, where I think we have made a lot of progress.
Of course, a topic which is very dear to my heart, as you know, the protection of minors in our digital age. I know that you have embraced some of our initiatives, and I’m very eager to see how we can take this topic forward, which I can tell you has generated tremendous interest from parents, how we can take it forward, amongst the other things we will discuss.
Henna Virkkunen:Thank you so much. Good morning, everybody. Honourable Prime Minister, it’s a great pleasure to be here today, and we have had already very good visits. Yesterday, we already had a long meeting with Digital and AI Minister, Papastergiou. Today, I also had the opportunity to visit already “Archimedes”, your research centre. Yesterday, I was also visiting ENISA, because cybersecurity, of course, is a very crucial topic for us, and it’s good to see that Greece is really becoming also a cyber security hub for the European Union.
But first, of course, I want to thank you and congratulate you for your leadership, because we know that during your mandate, Greece has been navigated through very challenging times and has become more strong and resilient. Also, you have been taking care always that Greece is a strong player in the European Union arenas, but also respected globally.
Now we see that we are really facing very challenging times as a European Union, the world order is under pressure, and we see that the global race on critical technologies is very hard, and this also is very closely connected to our security. So, it’s crucial importance for European Union that we make sure that we have capacities in critical technologies like AI, and also that we are able to defend ourselves. So, we have to become stronger in security.
Greece is one of the countries who has always been investing in security and defence, and we see that we have to be prepared for different kinds of threats. Critical technologies are playing a very important role here.
I have to say that I’m also very impressed about the progress you have had in building the capacity in critical technologies in Greece, and also how you have digitalised different public services, and how you have been investing also to this infrastructure, which is enabling to new innovations for public sector, but also for research and startups. I’m very much looking forward to continue these discussions with you.
