Greece's solidarity with the Ukrainian people, who are suffering these days again from a large-scale attack by Russian missiles and drones against civilians, was underlined by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the 4th Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit in Odessa on Wednesday, which he attended at the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"These attacks - and I believe this must be repeated at every opportunity - flagrantly violate International Humanitarian Law. We have made this clear from the beginning that you have the inherent right to defend yourselves against Russian aggression," the Greek premier added.
"Greece will continue to support Ukraine, as it did from the very start, diplomatically, politically, financially, militarily, and in humanitarian ways," he underlined.
Mitsotakis additionally said, "We will do whatever we can do to work in the direction of ending this catastrophe and unhappiness in your country," he said, adding it was up to the Ukrainians to decide to accept or reject any peace-keeping formula. "I also believe you have clearly proven that your intentions are truly sincere, in contrast to those of the other side."
Mitsotakis described Odessa as a city symbolizing the resistance of the Ukrainian people who fight for their liberty, and noted that at this time, all must work for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire as a first step to wa just and viable peace.
"We will continue to exert greater pressure on Russia, to support packages of further sanctions, and naturally to point out, as my colleagues have done, that this war does not relate solely to Russia and Ukraine. It relates to international order, which is based on rules, on not rewarding the aggressor through an acceptance of a settlement that fundamentally justifies these aggressive behaviors," the Greek premier underlined.
The PM also briefly reviewed the importance of Odessa as a city that highlights the future reconstruction and connectivity projects. He particularly said he envisioned the city as being at one end of an ambitious and comprehensive connectivity project starting from the port of Alexandroupolis and going through Varna, Constanza, and finally reaching Odessa. "This is a project that could be proposed to the European Commission for funding. It would include transportation, the railroad, electric energy, natural gas, pipelines, and it would be a project providing an additional connectivity corridor for Ukraine, much faster than maritime transport, for your goods. It would also provide a clear message as to how your accession to the European Union could make a real difference to the people of Ukraine," Mitsotakis added.
Finally, addressing himself to leaders of the Western Balkan countries who were in Odessa, he said that Greece will continue to be one of the most fervent and consistent supporters of the process of EU enlargement and European integration.
Joint press conference
Following the end of the 4th Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit, leaders provided a joint press conference.
Responding to a question related to European defense cooperation, European Union funding for defense and the participation of Ukraine and other third countries, the PM said, "I believe there is broad understanding in Europe and certainly in the European Council that Russia's invasion in Ukraine was a violent geopolitical awakening, a necessity so we could assume the control of our security and an urgent need to spend more for European defense collectively. I do not believe I am exaggerating when I say that before the war in Ukraine we were almost sleepwalking toward military insignificance, if you see look at how much we spent collectively for defense."
He added, "We now have a new initiative on behalf of the European Union, the ReArm initiative, which substantially has two aspects. It provides us the opportunity to spend more at national level, activating the national escape clause, without this affecting the caps on increasing our expenditures. And, of course, there is also the SAFE mechanism, which provides loans for investments in European defense, yet also promotes cooperation and partnership with other countries, especially with countries that are candidates for accession to the European Union."
Mitsotakis said as well that he sees Ukraine as a strong partner in terms of the building of the future European foundation of security and added that it is no secret that Ukraine has developed massive capabilities thorugh this very harsh and bloody war.
In terms of SAFE and of the other candidate countries or other countries that could participate in the mechanism, the prime minister conveyed a message to Türkiye that it is obvious that whoever wants access to European funding would at least need to be in some alignment with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy. "Because, at the end of the day, it is a tool that was designed for the purpose of protecting Europe in its entirety and of creating an new European architecture of security," Mitsotakis concluded.
Within the context of the Summit, the prime minister met privately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and earlier paid a visit with the other attending leaders to Shevchenko Park and laid a wreath in the Alley of Heroes.