Souda is not threatened and there is full protection, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis stressed in an interview with Sky TV, while stressing that the country's defence plan was not put up for discussion or information.
«The protection measures have been upgraded, Greece's anti-ballistic, anti-aircraft umbrella has been installed and deployed, so Greek citizens can feel safe,» he said.
He pointed out that «the status of Souda is governed by the defence agreement between the US and Greece. It is very specific what can be done inside the base» and added that «both our navy and air force are able to effectively protect every Greek».
«It is primarily to provide facilities to the US, so it does not lend itself to aggressive actions. I want to assure you that all necessary measures have been taken both on the part of the Americans and on the part of Greece.».
The Foreign Minister pointed out that «the deployment of Greece's defence forces both within Greek territory and in Cyprus is an issue that concerns the sovereignty of the country, it is non-negotiable, it is not up for discussion, not even for information».
«Our defensive arrangement was sovereignly decided,» he said. «The deployment of two frigate forces and two pairs of fighter aircraft to Cyprus is a historic, fraternal duty to Cyprus and we are proud of the fact that we have these defence capabilities to provide this assistance, this purely defensive support.».
«Any targeting of Cyprus is a threat to the whole of Europe, it stimulates the duty of solidarity towards Cyprus,» he said: «In a state of war that we are in today, decisions taken for the protection and security of Greek citizens are not a matter of debate.».
Asked about Turkey's statements today, he noted that «its positions regarding the alleged demilitarization of the East Aegean islands are firm. Of course, these claims are completely unsubstantiated. They have absolutely nothing to do with the legal framework governing the status of the islands.».
«Greece has the absolutely free, undisturbed right to develop its defence capabilities without any discussion whatsoever. Turkey's position as expressed is a reaction, we reject it. The crucial thing is the greatest possible security for Greek citizens.».
«We are working day and night for the repatriation of Greeks»
Regarding the repatriation of Greeks, he noted: «We are working day and night at the Foreign Ministry, it is really a superhuman effort.».
As he explained, the Foreign Ministry is trying to extricate Greeks from war zones who have been trapped in an extremely difficult situation and Greeks who are in many East Asian countries and due to the fact that they have had stopover flights - either in Qatar or in the Emirates - are currently having difficulty in reaching Athens.
«This is the most difficult exercise we have done in the Foreign Ministry for decades for the repatriation of Greeks,» he said, adding that today more than 200 Greeks have returned safely to Greece, while repatriation operations will continue in the coming days.
«The airspace of all these states is closed, it's only opened up piecemeal and on a case-by-case basis, so it's an extremely difficult exercise. We are above and working for the benefit of the Greek citizens.».
«We were not informed about the attack»
He noted that Greece had not been informed about the attack on Iran. A few days before the attack, he was at the White House and met with the US Secretary of State.
«I had an insight into the course of the discussions that took place in Geneva. I had an image that these discussions were not making much progress, but of course I had neither a timetable of attacks nor the strategic plan of Israel and the US,» he said.
He noted that «from the American point of view, what is of primary importance is that Iran is brought into a framework of effective and beneficial control of its ballistic and nuclear programme».
For Israel, he said, «the goal is to be able to establish a regime that can provide a security for the State of Israel. And not only in Iran, but also in Iran's proxies, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, who pose a constant, potential threat to Israel.».
Commenting on the EU's reaction, he noted that «unfortunately, Europe has not managed to unite on the basic positions on the common foreign and security policy and there have been serious differences on both the Ukraine and Middle East fronts».
«Both the due common foreign and security policy and the solidarity that should be shown as a matter of course have become a matter of course in Europe. Strategic autonomy means not only common trade and a common market, but also a strong defence and a robust competitiveness.».
He said that the economic suffocation that can be caused by the risks of free navigation, which is currently being experienced in the Straits of Hormuz, is a very serious risk for the global economy. He recalled that there is already a European Shields mission in the region to protect maritime supplies.
«Freedom of navigation is an extremely crucial factor for the stability of the global economy, beyond the obvious that shipping should be protected,» he said, adding that the de facto issue of the Strait of Hormuz is a huge issue for the global economy.
«The war will hardly last for a short time»
The Foreign Minister stressed that «no one is in a position to speculate at the moment what the duration of the war will be. In the modern diplomatic environment, any notion of predictability has been abolished.».
«We are working on a number of potential scenarios on how things will go
There are too many fronts. The attacks on the Gulf countries are far more than even the attacks on Israel,» he said.
«The feeling I have is that it will hardly last for a short time. We should all be prepared to deal with all the potential consequences which could obviously be economic, possibly population movements, i.e. migration and geopolitical consequences.».
«Greece's position remains stable and consistent. We have invested in our strategic alliances with Israel and the US, but also with the Gulf countries and India, so that we can be considered a reliable ally and have a say in developments.
