Athens, 16 July 2021

Strong bond of friendship between France and Greece confirmed

 

The strong bond of friendship between France and Greece was confirmed during the meeting of a multi-party delegation from the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Parliament with a delegation of French MPs from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and the Armed Forces of the French Senate and the Committee on National Defence and the Armed Forces of the French National Assembly. From the Greek side, the meeting was attended by the Bureau of the Committee, MPs Konstantinos Gioulekas, Anastasios Dimoschakis and Anastasios Chatzivasileiou  and members of the Committee, MPs Georgios Katrougalos, Andreas Loverdos, Antonios Mylonakis and Kleon Grigoriadis. The French side was represented by the Chairwoman of the Committee on National Defence and the Armed Forces of the French National Assembly, Françoise Dumas and members Fabien Gouttefarde and Jean-Louis Thieriot, the Bureau of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and the Armed Forces of the French Senate, MPs Christian Cambon, Jean-Marc Todeschini and Philippe Paul, as well as by the French Ambassador in Athens Patrick Maisonnave.

Mr. Gioulekas referred to the excellent relations between the two peoples and their parliaments and thanked the French MPs for the long-term support that France provides to Greece. The Greek MP referred to the crisis in the relations between Greece and the EU with Turkey due to the aggressive behaviour of the neighbouring country, which blatantly violates the rights of two EU member states, Greece and Cyprus. He stressed that Turkey, by instrumentalizing the refugees, is trying to put pressure on the EU. The Greek MPs participating in the meeting expressed their satisfaction with the feelings of friendship and the practical support by the French people for the Greek positions and stressed that Greece will assist the French leadership in its efforts to build a stronger EU in political, economic and defence terms.

Mrs. Françoise Dumas, Chairwoman of the Committee on National Defence and the Armed Forces of the French National Assembly referred to the strong ties between the two peoples, built on common values and visions and expressed the hope that cooperation between the two parliaments will produce visible results on an array of issues that concern the Mediterranean Basin and by extension the EU. Mr. Christian Cambon, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and the Armed Forces of the French Senate expressed once again his support for Greece in the face of Turkish provocations and recognised the dynamism that our country is displaying in the face of these threats. He then proposed deepening the cooperation between the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees to create a defence roadmap to address common threats.

Both sides emphasised that parliamentary diplomacy can produce excellent results and agreed to a more permanent and regular cooperation between the above committees.

 

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