In his statements, the French president spoke about the cooperation between Greece and France, pointing out that the two countries are working for European sovereignty and security, while absolute “cooperation in foreign policy and the defense industry acquires great value in the difficult times we live in”. At the same time, he pointed out that the cooperation between the two countries “has a long history and will continue in the future” while he emphasized that the war in Ukraine will also be discussed at length. “We fully support Greece’s sovereignty,” the French president said.

For his part, Mitsotakis noted that the two countries have defence, economic and geostrategic cooperation, stressing that the links connecting the two countries are being constantly forged.”Last year Paris helped Greece with the fires, this year it was Greece’s turn to reciprocate,” said the Greek Prime Minister. Then Mitsotakis referred to energy, saying that the European Union has the opportunity to respond to Putin who uses energy as a weapon. Referring to Turkey’s challenges, he emphasized that the questioning of national sovereignty should not be allowed, saying that the ongoing challenges will be discussed.

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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is at the Champs-Élysées in Patis, currently meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The two men are making statements at the entrance of the French Presidential Palace and then they will have a private meeting, while immediately afterward a dinner of the French presidential couple with Mr. Mitsotakis and his wife will follow.

Mitsotakis and Macron are known to maintain a close personal and political relationship and their meeting come at a critical juncture for energy, but also for regional developments.

Mitsotakis is expected to discuss with the French president the need for a common stance and common decisions on the issue of energy, but not in a way that will push many European countries to shoot themselves in the foot by “capping” Russian gas only. France is one of the few countries that supported Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal for a cap on Russian gas, although it seems that there is a movement to expand the cap, in the direction of the Greek proposal to intervene in the wholesale price via the energy exchange market.

Mitsotakis, however, will have the opportunity to discuss with Macron also about the provocations of Turkey, as the threats from the political leadership have been upgraded. President Erdogan, as well as top officials of his government, compete every day on who will issue the most blatant provocation directly challenging Greece’s sovereignty over several islands. Macron is known to have little tolerance for Mr. Erdogan’s behavior, while the relations between Athens and Paris are at a high level, given the defense cooperation agreement that has been concluded between the two countries.