Athens, 9 November 2022

Meeting of NATO PA Mediterranean and Middle East Special Group concludes

The two-day meetings of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Special Group for the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which took place on November 8 and 9 at the Hellenic Parliament Senate Hall, with the participation of 30 Members of Parliament of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, have been completed. MPs Spilios Livanos, Head of the Greek parliamentary delegation to the NATO PA and Vice-President of the Assembly, Manousos Voloudakis, Vice-Chair of the Special Group and Chair of the meeting and Andreas Loverdos, Greek delegation member, participated in the meetings.

The Minister of National Defence Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, the Minister of Migration Policy and Asylum Notis Mitarakis, the Minister of Maritime and Insular Policy YannisPlakiotakis and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, in charge of European affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, presented the Greek positions on the following issues: challenges in NATO's southern flank, security in the Mediterranean basin and in the countries of the MENA region, as well as our country's activity in the fields of defence, security, migration and the energy crisis.

The National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister Thanos Dokos and the Professor of International Relations at the National and Kapodistrian University Panagiotis Tsakonas, analysed Greece's actions and partnerships in the context of a constantly changing geopolitical environment, also emphasising the need  for policy development regarding conflict prevention and response to emergency situations in the neighbouring member states, while the General Director for Energy of the Environment and Energy Mnistry Dimitris Tsalemis, commented on Greece’s contribution to energy security and response to the energy crisis at the European level.

The meeting closed with the election of new officials (Chair, Vice-Chairs and Rapporteur) of the Special Group for the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16