Brussels, 30 November 2022

Greek delegation participates in meeting of Foreign Affairs Committee of European Parliament

A meeting of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee with the participation of members of the national parliaments was held in Brussels on November 30. The Hellenic Parliament was represented by Mrs Fotini Arabatzi from New Democracy and Mr Ioannis Amanatidis from SY.RIZ.A.-Progressive Alliance. The meeting’s agenda included the following topics: "Europe in the world: strengthening global alliances and partnerships" and "Supporting Ukraine - European resilience, commitment and unity for future challenges".

Mrs Arabatzi underlined the importance of strengthening Common Foreign and Security Policy’s structures and processes, also noting the importance of EU’s strategic autonomy and the need for strengthening its capacity to defend common European values ​​and principles. She also drew attention to the fact that Greece is constantly faced with the real threat of revisionism, moreover emphasising that combating the instrumentalisation of migration flows and strengthening maritime security according to Law of the Sea provisions, as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, should be a priority for the EU.

Mr Amanatidis noted EU’s difficulty to adopt a clear strategy for dealing with current geopolitical instability and rapid changes, while its international and regional role seems to be voluntarily limited; he stressed the need to work towards the development of a collective strategic culture, making use of various means and mechanisms, such as the Strategic Compass in the field of CFSP. He also highlighted Greece’s stance against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as constituting a dangerous manifestation of revisionism and a flagrant violation of international law and emphasised the need for decision-making at EU level in order to deal with revisionist acts that threaten the member states' sovereign rights in certain regions, especially at the east of its borders. In his intervention during the 2^nd thematic unit, Mr Amanatidis said that Greece has always supported the development of close and strong partnerships between the EU and Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, on the basis of the relevant Association Agreements, which were signed in 2014 during the Greek Presidency; he added that the credibility of the EU accession process is inextricably linked to the principle of conditionality and own merits and, therefore, accession process progress depends on  implementation of necessary reforms.

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