Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis<\/b> speaking at the 16th conference of ND<\/b> presented an overall picture of Greece<\/b> as a country that despite international instability<\/b> has managed to strengthen<\/b> its position<\/b> as never before since post-independence<\/b>. <\/p>\n
Gerapetritis defended the strategy<\/b> of the Kyriakos Mitsotakis government, essentially saying that the country is no longer passively following developments,<\/b> but is shaping the terms of the game<\/b> in the region. The Foreign Minister particularly referred to the moves that he said closed“fifty-year<\/b> gaps” on national issues. He cited as leading examples the extension of the territorial waters<\/b> in the Ionian Sea to Cape Tainaro<\/b>, the delimitation agreements with Italy <\/b>and Egypt<\/b>, but also the marine spatial planning<\/b>, which he described as a historic step, as – as he said – for the first time it institutionally reflects the farthest limits of the Greek continental shelf<\/b> and the EEZ<\/b>.<\/p>\n
“Greece <\/b>shows its strength everywhere. It shows it in Europe<\/b>, it shows it in the United Nations Organization<\/b>, it shows it in Asia<\/b>, in Africa<\/b>, in the United States<\/b>,” the foreign minister said.<\/p>\n
In the same context, he also included the marine environmental parks,<\/b>saying that they practically strengthen Greek sovereignty over the islands, while he referred separately to the presence of US energy giants Chevron<\/b> and Exxon<\/b> in the south of Crete<\/b>, arguing that these moves constitute an indirect but clear recognition of Greek sovereign rights<\/b> in the Eastern Mediterranean.<\/b><\/p>\n
Mr. Gerapetritis<\/b> also referred to the defensive<\/b> arm of government policy and said that the period of relative calm<\/b> with Turkey<\/b> was used to allow the country to gain valuable time to upgrade the Armed Forces<\/b> and create a new deterrent grid for the islands and Arakis<\/b> regions. Gerapetritis said, among other things, that Greece<\/b> is not only investing in diplomacy<\/b>, but is also building strong military power and international alliances.<\/b><\/p>\n
In the international arena, the Foreign Minister<\/b> said that Greece is a country of increased prestige<\/b> and influence. He referred to the country’s election to the UN Security Council<\/b> as an indication of Athens<\/b> international credibility<\/b>, noting that Greece<\/b> is now in the hard core<\/b> of the European Union<\/b>, not just participating, but taking initiatives on critical issues such as European defence, the Recovery Fund and immigration policy.<\/b><\/p>\n
She also made a special reference to the Cyprus<\/b> issue, saying that thanks to the coordinated action of Athens and Nicosia<\/b>, the issue has been dynamically put back on the international agenda after years of stagnation. At the same time, he described as a major success of Greek diplomacy the condition set for the participation of third countries in European defence programmes, arguing that now no country that threatens an EU member state can participate without conditions.<\/b><\/p>\n
Georgos Gerapetritis<\/b> highlighted the web of international alliances that the government has built<\/b> with the United States,<\/b> Israel, India, Egypt<\/b> and the Gulf<\/b> countries, describing these relations as an element of the new geopolitical upgrading<\/b> of Greece. He also cited the management of the migration crisis<\/b> in the Evros<\/b> as an example of determination, noting that Greece then proved in practice that it can protect<\/b> not only the national but also the European borders.<\/b><\/p>\n
In conclusion, the minister gave a clear political<\/b> and ideological signal. He contrasted what he called the government’s “responsible patriotism<\/b>” with the opposition’s “political nihilism”,<\/b> arguing that at a time of tectonic geopolitical changes, the country needs stability, continuity and strong leadership. Linking the debate to the Greek presidency of the European Council<\/b> in the second half of 2027, he implicitly posed the dilemma of the next period: who can effectively represent Greece in the crucial decisions<\/b> coming for Europe and national issues.<\/p>\n
“I ask one and only one. Who do Greek citizens want<\/b> to sit behind the Greek flag<\/b> and stand up for Greek rights? It cannot be anyone other than Kyriakos Mitsotakis, <\/b>it cannot be anyone other than this government<\/b>, which responsibly and consistently stands above all, for the homeland,<\/b> for national rights” concluded Mr. Gerapetritis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis during his speech at the 16th conference of the New Democracy party presented an overall picture of Greece as a country that, despite the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}