Athens, 6 MArch 2023

Participation of Hellenic Parliament National Defence and Foreign Affairs Committee delegation in Inter-parliamentary Conference on Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy

The Inter-parliamentary Conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP/CSDP) was held in Stockholm on March 2nd and 3rd, in the framework of the parliamentary dimension of the Swedish presidency of the EU Council. The Hellenic Parliament was represented by MPs Ioannis Kefalogiannis and Andreas Nikolakopoulos from the ruling party, as well as MP Georgios Katrougalos from the major opposition.

Mr Kefalogiannis emphasised that Greece is one of the first member states to offer military, political, economic and humanitarian aid, both at a bilateral level and via the European Peace Facility. He then noted that sanctions against Russia could only be effective on condition they are strictly adhered to, as circumvention of sanctions by countries that are major market players -such as Turkey- works to the benefit of the Russian economy and to the detriment of collective efforts.

Mr Nikolakopoulos stated that promoting the role of the EU as a trustworthy security provider calls for effective crisis management, to be achieved via balanced utilisation of both CSDP military and civil assets. "The EU Strategic Compass provides the institutional framework for dealing with hybrid threats, such as disinformation, the spread of extremist ideology, as well as attempts to instrumentalise migration flows for political purposes," added Mr Nikolakopoulos.

Mr Katrougalos noted that, at this stage, critical long-term European interests, both economic and geostrategic, are at stake; although in many cases EU and US interests are not the same, the E.U. seems to be satisfied with a lesser role in the transatlantic alliance. In this respect, Mr Katrougalos reminded participants of the speech by the former European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the State of the Union, stating that "the European Union is a global payer, but must also become a global player".

 

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