In the absence of sanctions against the Turkey, in the recent European Council, the government spokesman reported, Stelios Petsas, speaking from the podium of the Parliament.
After admitting that Europe moved - as is its habit - and this time too late, Mr.Petsas asked «what would be the use of imposing sanctions today, if they had already been imposed in June 19», attempting with this heterochronous reasoning, to bypass the embarrassment caused by a question from Foreign Affairs Minister of SYRIZA, George Katrougalos.
The Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister put on the record all the conclusions of the European Council:
- of June 2019 which, as he pointed out, «referred to taking appropriate measures, targeted measures, not sanctions».
- of October 2019
- of December 2019
- October 2020 «which for the first time makes explicit reference to the articles of the Treaty of EU which clearly refer to penalties».
«I put them on record so that everyone understands that every Greek government, on national issues, builds on the initiatives of the other, always with the aim of to serve national interests», said Stelios Petsas and addressed the SYRIZA benches saying: «would we want in December 2020 to be sanctioned? That was not the purpose. Was the purpose to go one step further, from October 2020. Of course it did. The list of entities and persons that can be sanctioned by the EU has been extended, on Turkey's illegal mining activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. Secondly, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Borel, to prepare a report and submit it to the European Council in March 2021 on the whole range of Euro-Turkish relations, including, of course, the issue of sanctions.».
The Minister of State to the Prime Minister also said that sanctions are not an end in themselves but a tool to end Turkey's transgressive behaviour. «So Europe is moving forward slowly and I would like to remind Mr Katrougalos that we should not replace the word “sanctions” with “waiting for the barbarians” from our great poet Constantine Cavafy. Because it is not an end in itself, it is a tool to put an end to Turkey's offensive behaviour, in order to move forward in Greek-Turkish and Euro-Turkish relations, to a better tomorrow, where there will be no provocative actions, in the interests of the peoples of the entire Eastern Mediterranean and of course of Greece and Turkey», Stelios Petsas said.
Earlier, the George Katrougalos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of SYRIZA had stated that «at the recent European Council Mr Mitsotakis has recorded an abject failure» and that «it is not a small step forward because, allegedly, so slowly the EU, as the government claims, but instead for many steps backwards», since in the Conclusions there is not even the word «sanctions» for Turkey regarding its illegal and aggressive activity against Greece. The SYRIZA MP had pointed out that it was Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who said that the «only option» is to impose sanctions already in the September Council, «sanctions that will bite» according to the government spokesman. George Katrougalos had also referred to the Council's conclusions, saying that «it is enough to compare the Conclusions of this Council with the Conclusions of June 2019, the last one in which Alexis Tsipras represented the country as Prime Minister», when «not only was the initial - and therefore more difficult - decision on sanctions taken unanimously, but the EU “strongly condemned the illegal Turkish activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean”. In other words, on the one hand it explicitly included the Aegean in its condemnation and on the other hand it did not confine itself, as in yesterday's decision, to characterising Turkish aggression as merely provocative but directly illegal».
«In June 2019, the first decision in principle was taken, calling on Turkey not to continue its illegal behaviour because sanctions would be imposed», George Katrougalos commented immediately after Mr.Petsa's response, adding: «exactly for this reason, Cyprus, which asked for sanctions, got them, while Greece, which delayed and only 8 months after the illegal Turkish-Colibian pact, asked for them, with the sole responsibility of the Prime Minister, with a failure bearing his signature, did not get them. The clearest distortion is that the June 2019 decision did not refer to sanctions because it included the term “targeted measures”. Well, that is the term the EU uses for sanctions. We will support any national effort but self-criticism is needed. When failures are presented as triumphs, I fear the worst for our foreign policy after the tragic 2020.».
«From the process that was recorded in June 2019 until we reach today, there are several stages,» the Deputy Minister replied and added: «When did Greece not ask for sanctions? Didn't you say that I myself have referred to this since August? Has the Foreign Minister not mentioned it since August in the Foreign Affairs Council? Hasn't the High Representative made a statement since August? Did we not move in October to report the articles on sanctions, for the first time, a deterrent policy fleece for the EU? This is something very important. So why can't we agree on the simple things and look for oppositional reasons on national issues?».
Mr Petsas also said that Greece will move forward together with Europe, building alliances, «alliances are everywhere and the proof is the sanctioning of another partner, the US, against Turkey on the issue of the F-35 and the S-400; and so it's a multi-level alliance going forward». «So there is no reason why national issues should be subject to petty partisan exploitation. We must always keep in mind the goal, which is to end Turkey's transgressive behavior, and any leverage in this direction is legitimate and we hope that all Greek governments are pursuing this,» Stelios Petsas said.
What the Deputy Minister told the Prime Minister about the European Council, was commented on by parliamentary representative of the Hellenic Solution Konstantinos Hitas. «You have no right to play with the intelligence of the Greek people. It is not possible that we should hear in this room, after the Waterloo of the Synod, that you are satisfied with the result and pampering in Turkey. It is unbelievable that you are celebrating. You cannot rush our intelligence and the logic of the Greeks. You can say that “we failed”, that “we had set the bar high”, but you cannot have a celebratory tone and tell us that it is now night when it is 12 noon. It is not possible, Mr. Petsas,» said Konstantinos Hitas and invited the deputy minister to speak about the spying case in Rhodes. «Why on earth do we need consulates in Komotini and Rhodes; they have become hornets» nests," the Hellenic Solution MP said.
Members' statements in plenary
National issues and the results of the Summit were at the centre of the MEPs' statements in the plenary session on the 2021 Budget.
The MP of SYRIZA Olympia Teligioridou rejected the government's policy on national issues, saying that we cannot «acquiesce to Mr. Gerapetritis' six-mile red line or in Mr Georgiades“ statement that "you are not bored, brother, ORUC REIS is just wasting petrol“. Do you, the members of the New Democracy, agree with these statements? But you too are probably as carefree as your Prime Minister, who went to the Summit carefree by imposing sanctions that would bite Turkey and returned with sanctions against Russia. You have confused the countries! We invest neither in disaster nor in failure... The country needs a national plan, otherwise we are going from Turkey's demoralisation to national defeat. Get down to reality before it is too late.».
ND MP Dimitris Kairidis criticized SYRIZA for its stance on Greek-Turkish relations, saying that «I will not refer to the nonsense of the opposition before 2015 and what they said about the Al Sisi's Egypt, for Israel, for the United States and so on. But in the four years they ruled until 2019, we had allowed Ankara to blackmail Europe through the refugee-migration issue, we had left the submarines without torpedoes and the air force without Mirage. We had slandered our potential allies in Europe, such as Manfred Weber, Mark Rutte, Sebastian Kurz and we were late in signing EEZ agreements. Even now the main opposition does not have a coherent view. Does it want the Evros fence or is it upset about the 90% reduction in flows? Does it want the additional 2 billion in armaments that our budget proposes or does it consider them unnecessary, dangerous and war-mongering, as Avgi writes? The spectacle is sad. In the opposition, they are competing over who will say the most strange things, indifferent to what is happening in the international environment, uninformed and drunk in the face of rapid developments.“.
The MP of SYRIZA Nassos Athanasiou For his part he said: «I think that the United Europe project is a big deal. I could belong to the federalists. But the last summit proved, in my opinion, that Germany is destroying Europe… Chancellor Merkel not only refuses to defend the values of Europe, but she also makes sure to find “purquoise” allies in this catastrophe. I have never regretted my negative opinion about the abilities of the current prime minister. How can you regret a prime minister who, through his spokesman, anticipated the imposition of European sanctions on Turkey, but in the end, all he succeeded in doing was to impose sanctions on Greece? In fact, that is what happened. Mistakes in politics are tantamount to crimes, said the founder of the New Democracy, Konstantinos Karamanlis.
The Member of the Southwest Euripides Stylianides stressed that «the pursuit of national understanding, unity and social awakening» is required. Referring to national issues, he stressed that the government «is taking advantage of the national crisis to separate extreme nationalism and dangerous internationalism from a genuine patriotism that awakens our people and our nation. It shields the country defensively, strengthens Greece's international alliances and creates the conditions, as was done in Evros last spring, as well as in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. to claim and achieve our International Rights» and added that «if we act in a united manner, we will imbue politics with a new mentality, we will awaken the whole people and the nation and we will multiply our international allies».
