PM Mitsotakis in Odessa: 'Greece will continue to support Ukraine, as it did from the very start'

Greece's solidarity with the Ukrainian people, who are suffering these days again from a large-scale attack by Russian missiles and drones against civilians, was underlined by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the 4th Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit in Odessa on Wednesday,

"These attacks- and I believe this must be repeated at every opportunity -flagrantly violate International Humanitarian Law. We have made thisclear from the beginning that you have the inherent right to defendyourselves against Russian aggression," the Greek premier added.

"Greece willcontinue to support Ukraine, as it did from the very start,diplomatically, politically, financially, militarily, and inhumanitarian ways," he underlined.

Mitsotakisadditionally said, "We will do whatever we can do to work in thedirection of ending this catastrophe and unhappiness in yourcountry," he said, adding it was up to the Ukrainians to decideto accept or reject any peace-keeping formula. "I also believeyou have clearly proven that your intentions are truly sincere, incontrast to those of the other side."

Mitsotakis describedOdessa as a city symbolizing the resistance of the Ukrainian peoplewho fight for their liberty, and noted that at this time, all mustwork for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire as a first step towa just and viable peace.

"We willcontinue to exert greater pressure on Russia, to support packages offurther sanctions, and naturally to point out, as my colleagues havedone, that this war does not relate solely to Russia and Ukraine. Itrelates to international order, which is based on rules, on notrewarding the aggressor through an acceptance of a settlement thatfundamentally justifies these aggressive behaviors," the Greekpremier underlined.

The PM also brieflyreviewed the importance of Odessa as a city that highlights thefuture reconstruction and connectivity projects. He particularly saidhe envisioned the city as being at one end of an ambitious andcomprehensive connectivity project starting from the port ofAlexandroupolis and going through Varna, Constanza, and finallyreaching Odessa. "This is a project that could be proposed tothe European Commission for funding. It would include transportation,the railroad, electric energy, natural gas, pipelines, and it wouldbe a project providing an additional connectivity corridor forUkraine, much faster than maritime transport, for your goods. Itwould also provide a clear message as to how your accession to theEuropean Union could make a real difference to the people ofUkraine," Mitsotakis added.

Finally, addressinghimself to leaders of the Western Balkan countries who were inOdessa, he said that Greece will continue to be one of the mostfervent and consistent supporters of the process of EU enlargementand European integration.

Joint pressconference

Following the end ofthe 4th Ukraine-Southeast Europe Summit, leaders provided a jointpress conference.

Responding to aquestion related to European defense cooperation, European Unionfunding for defense and the participation of Ukraine and other thirdcountries, the PM said, "I believe there is broad understandingin Europe and certainly in the European Council that Russia'sinvasion in Ukraine was a violent geopolitical awakening, a necessityso we could assume the control of our security and an urgent need tospend more for European defense collectively. I do not believe I amexaggerating when I say that before the war in Ukraine we were almostsleepwalking toward military insignificance, if you see look at howmuch we spent collectively for defense."

He added, "Wenow have a new initiative on behalf of the European Union, the ReArminitiative, which substantially has two aspects. It provides us theopportunity to spend more at national level, activating the nationalescape clause, without this affecting the caps on increasing ourexpenditures. And, of course, there is also the SAFE mechanism, whichprovides loans for investments in European defense, yet also promotescooperation and partnership with other countries, especially withcountries that are candidates for accession to the European Union."

Mitsotakis said aswell that he sees Ukraine as a strong partner in terms of thebuilding of the future European foundation of security and added thatit is no secret that Ukraine has developed massive capabilitiesthorugh this very harsh and bloody war.

In terms of SAFE andof the other candidate countries or other countries that couldparticipate in the mechanism, the prime minister conveyed a messageto Türkiye that it is obvious that whoever wants access to Europeanfunding would at least need to be in some alignment with the EU'sCommon Foreign and Security Policy. "Because, at the end of theday, it is a tool that was designed for the purpose of protectingEurope in its entirety and of creating an new European architectureof security," Mitsotakis concluded.

Within the contextof the Summit, the prime minister met privately with UkrainianPresident Volodymyr Zelensky, and earlier paid a visit with the otherattending leaders to Shevchenko Park and laid a wreath in the Alleyof Heroes.

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