The Alternate Minister of National Defence Dimitris Vitsas in an interview on Wednesday, October 12, 2016, to journalist G. Trapeziotis said, among other things:

About the trilateral summit meeting in Egypt:

The effort that we are making now is to create triangles of stability in an area which is clearly very unstable, where wars take place and refugees and migrants flows are present.

An agreement among Cyprus, Greece and Egypt, as well as a prior agreement among Greece, Cyprus and Israel and an agreement among Greece, Cyprus and Jordan creates the necessary conditions which are diplomatic conditions, as well as commercial, financial, peace and stability conditions in the area. This is the main point of the foreign policy that we have been following and yet with a key role in the area.

The second point is the procedure of a mutual growth. There are very big opportunities of exchanges between Greece and Egypt, such as Greece’s capability to help Egypt in its progress and vice versa.

The third point is to form the best possible and strongest possible alliances in our area at this crucial time when discussions are being conducted about the Cyprus’ issue.

However, the “big players” play their own role on the “chessboard” of Eastern Mediterranean. The main point is for the war in Syria to stop and for the Syrian people to find a democratic course to the future, as well as for ISIS to be defeated at many levels.

This kind of agreements, trilateral agreements shows the possibility for the states of this area to reinforce their ties and achieve a common progress, peace and prosperity in the area.

About Turkey and its disputing the treaty of Lausanne:

The statements that have been expressed by Turkey are against the international law. The treaty of Lausanne shapes the stability on the side of the Aegean Sea and of Iraq.

About the EU-Turkey agreement on the refugees’ issue:

I insist that this agreement must be observed. This is the agreement that has reduced the refugees’ and migrants’ flows to Greece. However, not all of the points of the agreement have been implemented, such as, for example, the reinforcement of Greece with specialists on asylum to be sent from other European countries. It must be extended, so that a legal way for refugees to Europe exists based on the Geneva Convention, and a compulsory allocation of refugees’ flows is achieved. Some countries do not like this. Of course, it is not only the EU-Turkey agreement that is being tested, but the very idea of a united Europe. Because if every country acts on this matter by its own decisions, closes its borders, makes decisions that separate it from the European acquis, this is a problem for Europe in total, and not only for Greece.

We are making three efforts:

The first one is to promote this idea of a legal way and a compulsory allocation and we have strong support on that.

The second effort that we are making is, given that the first persons that do not want the refugees’ issue to exist are the refugees themselves, to find the ways, the manners and the forms to make this war in Syria stop.

Our third effort is, using the capabilities that we have and which we augment day by day, to accommodate, to offer health care and help these people continue their lives; because they have been tormented not only in their country, yet also in their effort to find security.

About the conference of SYRIZA party:

At the end of the first conference we set two main issues:

The first one was that the government should leave, its policy should stop and a government of the left should rise.

The second one is to transform SYRIZA, from a party of various trends, to a single political factor.

I would like to say this: I feel proud, but not content. There are still many things to be done. We achieved many things, we created historic situations and, on the other hand, we are amid an evolving battle. We are standing on our feet; every day we make one more step as far as the political aspect is concerned.

The conference must set the main features and the political character which will guide us over the next years. And our goal cannot be other than taking the country out of the supervision, strengthening our Democracy and improving our people’s life and living conditions and protecting the poorest.
 
We are still far away from becoming a party of members; not in the sense that everyone will express an opinion on every thing which can be done anyway, but in the sense of combining democracy with collectivity and hierarchy and making the party the link which will connect the government with the society and with the production of policy and ideas at a political level, that will help it prevail at all levels of ideas and values in the society.

These are the issues that we will discuss in the conference along with an review of the period that we have gone through. This review depends on the outcome of this effort that we are trying to make victorious.