“We evacuated Greek citizens from Iran in a land operation, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through Azerbaijan. This is an extremely difficult equation, which shows that the Greek government is ready to provide solutions even in the most complex situations,” Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Hadjivassiliou said, speaking on SKAI television on Thursday morning.
Referring to developments in the Middle East, the Deputy Minister warned that “the flare-up will not benefit anyone.” He made clear that Greece is studying all possibilities and is carefully examining the situation on the ground. At the same time, he assured that “the Government does not assess that there is a threat against targets in Greece”, stressing that *”we do not seek to spread panic, but to maintain a high level of alert”. *
On the Greek-Turkish front, commenting on the recent release of a map by Ankara, he noted: “Turkey has responded with this map to Greece’s announcement on the CFE with this map. In response to Turkey’s statement on the declaration of Turkey’s maritime spatial planning, Turkey responded to the EU’s statement on the map. As he clarified about Turkey’s moves, “this map was not submitted to an organization that requires its submission, it is not based on international law, including the Law of the Sea, and it does not produce legal effects. It has no legal weight.”
Hadjivassiliou reiterated Greece’s firm position that the only difference with Turkey is the continental shelf and the EEZ. “Turkey occasionally adds issues to the agenda – we do not accept them. Our position is clear and based on international law,” he said.
Referring to domestic political news and responding to a question, he commented on Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis’ statement and the confrontation he had with the president of the Eleftherias Plyossi Eleftherias, Zoe Konstantopoulou, yesterday in Parliament, saying: “What Mr Florides said was a lot of what we ND MPs were thinking.” Continuing on the debate on the establishment of a preliminary investigation committee, she said that “no one has the alibi of ignorance. We must tell the truth, and so must Mrs Konstantopoulou, who I fear is following the line of opportunism.”
“New Democracy, the MPs, and the Prime Minister have brought out the alliance of vulgar toxicity. The opposition forces, instead of seeking to shed light on the tragedy of Tempi, choose to cultivate division for the sake of division itself, aiming for petty party benefits,” he noted, recalling that “there is no precedent of a government majority having filed a similar request for the lifting of the immunity of one of its members.”
He concluded by referring to the European SAFE regulation, noting that “the Greek government did an excellent job in the negotiating field and the regulation did not pass as originally planned, as the condition of unanimity for the participation of third countries in programmes and funding was imposed: ‘Greece succeeded in including strict terms and conditions.’
The conditions were set out with strict conditions and conditions that were not met.
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