Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Saturday evening, May 16, spoke at the dinner for the leaders of the Europe Gulf Forum, organized by the Antenna Group in collaboration with the Atlantic Council, at Costa Navarino. The Prime Minister’s speech follows:
Theo, thank you very much for this very kind introduction, and I do understand that it is extremely dangerous to speak for too long because you have taken a look at this lovely menu and I’m sure that you’re all very hungry.
But first of all, let me start by congratulating the Atlantic Council and Theo personally for this incredible gathering, which is taking place at a venue of particular historical importance for my country, because right behind us in this bay, back in October 1827, an important naval battle took place. The joint forces and navies of Britain, France, and Russia sank the Ottoman-Egyptian fleet and thus essentially paved the way for Greece becoming an independent nation.
And to Tony and David, we’re very grateful that Admiral Codrington actually stepped over the instructions he had received, which was not to actively engage with the fleet, and ended up sinking the entire fleet. Had this not happened, maybe Greece would not have been an independent state today.
But it’s also interesting that we gather at a place which in a sense symbolises the progress that the country has made. This is a lovely new destination that we have opened up over the past 10 years. It was the vision of a very important Greek shipowner who was born in a village very close to here, dirt poor, made a fortune at sea and decided to invest in his homeland and very patiently accumulated a large piece of land and has turned this into an amazing new destination, essentially, I think, a mirror image of the progress that Greece has made over the past years.
But we’re not here today to speak about what Greece has achieved. We’re here to speak about what I do consider to be a great priority for all of us Europeans, and that is to establish a much more constructive and productive relationship with the Gulf countries, and I’m so happy that you’ve had the opportunity today to meet and engage and speak openly and frankly about the opportunities and challenges of this relationship that is so important.
And when I look at Greece, since our independence as an independent state, we always were looking towards the West. The challenge was always: “How can we become a true member of the European family?”
But, during these days, I think it is much more important to also look to the East, the Southeast, to also look to the South, to also look at Africa. And this, I think, is particularly important in the context of this shifting security environment. We speak a lot with Georgia at the European Council about a 360-degree approach to security.
As much as we’re preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, we cannot ignore the fact that there are numerous opportunities and challenges in other parts of the world. And I consider Greece to be a natural bridge between Europe and the Gulf countries. We stood by the Gulf countries during times of great difficulty, supporting them militarily to the best of our abilities. And I do believe that now is the time to strengthen this partnership on various areas of priority, energy clearly being one of them.
In Europe, we discuss a lot the speed of the green transition. We remain committed to our climate targets, but we also know that decarbonization cannot happen at the expense of our industrial base. And we know that fossil fuels for the foreseeable future will be part of our energy mix. So, if we’re going to talk about importing natural gas, about new relationships, strategic partnerships, this is really the place we should be looking at.
When we talk about strengthening our defence base in Europe, let us be aware that, you know, the Gulf countries have made significant improvements in terms of defence technology. There are new partnerships that can be forged there.
When we look at new trade routes, the importance of IMEC. I mean, the Gulf countries are right in the middle between India and Europe. Significant opportunities to look at new trade routes, to look at logistics, to look also at increasing the penetration of European investment in the Gulf, which admittedly is still relatively low. We’re always looking to attract investment from the Gulf into Europe, but we should also be bolder in terms of looking to invest in this part of the world as it is going through a profound transformation.
And last but not least, a point that I know Georgia cares a lot about, Africa. We can collaborate and we should collaborate with the Gulf countries in spite of the fact that I understand the agendas are not always fully aligned, but I think we all have an interest in stabilising Africa, in investing in Africa, in looking at how Africa can help us diversify in terms of critical raw materials, managing problems such as migration, ensuring that countries such as Egypt remain stable, ensuring that Libya returns to a state of stability. This is critical to both of us. And I’m looking at Georgia because we’re faced with big migration pressures, and we have an interest which I think is aligned with the Gulf countries in terms of ensuring that this region is peaceful and stable.
So, I don’t want to take too much of your time. There’s no way I can compete with the magicians and the painters that Theo was kind enough to bring, and I’m sure there’s also going to be very interesting entertainment after our dinner. What I can tell you is that there’s no way my party congress can compete with this. You know, I had to sit through numerous speeches, but I guess it is what it is.
I have an election coming up, the latest in May 2027, and I need to make sure that we again prevail. But thank you so much, Theo, for inviting me, and I’m really looking forward to ensuring that this forum becomes even more substantive.
And when it comes to our role at the European Council, I’m sure that the countries that were represented here today will do our best to strengthen the partnership and to make sure that we put our money where our mouth is, at some point. Greece and Italy are the only two countries currently participating in Operation “Aspides”, which is a naval operation to ensure the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. So we need to convince our other European partners that if they want to take this relationship with the Gulf countries more seriously, they need to step up in terms of their commitment. But I’m sure we’re going to make good progress in that direction.
So, again, Theo, Fred, thank you so much for putting this gathering together. Let’s renew our meeting here for next year. It’s probably going to be, you know, could be during my campaign. So thank you very much.
