The Minister of National Defence Dimitris Avramopoulos represented the Greek Presidency at the Meeting of Defence Ministers of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council and he also participated in the meeting of the European Defence Agency’s Steering Board, which took place in Luxembourg yesterday.
After the completion of the Foreign Affairs Council, Mr. Avramopoulos made the following statement:
“During today’s meeting of the EDA’s Steering Board, we discussed the progress made on implementing the Council’s conclusions of December 2013, in the field of developing military capabilities and defence industry, which is of direct Greek interest.
I found the opportunity today to bring up again my proposal that we should start on upgrading the European Defence Agency to a powerful European institution, to a pylon for the European Union, equivalent to the pylons of the political and financial Union.
At the Foreign Affairs Council, which followed, we discussed on the constitution of the European Union’s strategy for maritime security that Greece, presiding the Council, had set at the heart of its priorities since the beginning.
It is a duty of the European Union to safeguard its interests for a safe and clear maritime environment, which will allow free movement of people and merchandise, and peaceful, legal, fair and sustainable use of marine wealth.
Greece particularly emphasises this issue, since it is a global naval force.
Further than that, we also discussed the situation in the Central African Republic and the launching of the EU military operation.
Finally, as it was implicit and expected, we highlighted the Ukraine issue.
On our side, it was clear that during these critical hours, diplomacy should prevail and a political solution should be found, since in Ukraine not only a peaceful settlement of a regional crisis is at risk, but also world stability. I believe that now the time has come again to reaffirm our commitment to the value of mutual comprehension and understanding.
It is very important to keep the channels of diplomatic and political discussion open, for the reason that we need a consenting, practical solution. The important thing for us now is de-escalation.
We hope and wish that Holy Thursday’s meeting in Geneva between the European Union, the United States of America, Ukraine and Russia will be successful and produce tangible and specific results that will result in de-escalation of the crisis.
The common goal should be a free, democratic and undivided Ukraine, which will actively unite the Euro-Atlantic region with Russia”.
