Athens, 9 September 2021

Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy

 “What does the EU intend to do should Turkey continue the provocations against Greece and Cyprus? Will it just express wishes and make statements or will it actively show its solidarity?” was the question that Konstantinos Gioulekas, Chairman of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Parliament, posed to  the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, during the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy (CFSP/CSDP) which took place today. Mr. Borrell responded that any unilateral action by Turkey will not go unanswered and pointed out that there is currently no need to take measures. Regarding the Cyprus issue, he said that contrary to Ankara’s intentions, the EU supports a solution on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

In his speech, Georgios Katrougalos, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and member of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs, said that he supports the strategic autonomy of the EU and pointed out that the High Representative’s reference to events in Afghanistan as a catalyst for strategic autonomy was noteworthy. He added that Europe must speak with a single and strong voice in order to have a political presence similar to the economic one on the international stage.

Stefanos Gikas, a member of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs, thanked in his address the MPs of EU member states for their support and contribution to extinguishing the fires that Greece was affected by a few weeks ago, as 11 member states sent aircraft, helicopters, special vehicles and hundreds of firefighters to Greece. He added that Europe could study the “lessons” from this operation in order to create a comprehensive approach and a framework of cooperation to better address crises.

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