Kyriakos Mitsotakis coming to the NATO Summit, expressed his satisfaction for the prospect of Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
At the same time he chastised Turkey for its stance. He reiterated that Greece is a pillar of stability for NATO and that, at this juncture, no other areas of instability are allowed within the Alliance.
“We are meeting today at the NATO Summit, in the shadow of a war. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a turning point in geopolitical time. It gives new importance to the Euro-Atlantic alliance and forces us to move faster to strengthen NATO structures”, he said.
“We are facing new major geopolitical challenges today. And I want to express my satisfaction because in the new strategic doctrine, which we will adopt shortly, its introduction includes the protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity, international law, but also human rights as the value framework on which our Alliance is based”.
Regarding the agreement on Finland-Sweden accession to NATO, the Prime Minister said: “I also want to express my satisfaction that today the Alliance will invite Finland and Sweden to become the 31st and 32nd members of the Alliance. In the end, the common sense and what’s good of the Alliance prevailed and any opportunistic and utilitarian behaviors were overcome”.
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Regarding Greece’s position in NATO, he said: “Greece has been a member of NATO since 1952. We are an important pillar of stability in the southeastern Mediterranean, we are a country that systematically invests more than 2% of its GDP in defense spending, shielding in this way not only our own defensive deterrent but also the structures of the Alliance. As a pillar of stability, then, in the south-eastern wing of NATO we have every reason to believe that at this time the Alliance’s commitment should be to the challenge it faces on the Ukrainian front. We do not need any other source of instability within the Alliance and I believe this is something that all our partners understand”.
