The Minister of National Defence, Mr. NIkolaos Panagiotopoulos, participated today, 28 February 2022, in the videoconference of the EU Defence Ministers in connection with the developments in Ukraine.

The main points of the Minister’s intervention read as follows:

• The aggression against Ukraine by Russia is also directed against Europe and the free world. Apart from a flagrant violation of International Law, it undermines the very foundations of European security.

• Greece condemns Russia’s revisionist actions, which turn against national territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence, as well as the violence, which claims the lives of numerous innocent people.

• We are deeply saddened by the loss of lives of the Ukrainians, who fight for their country, whilst we unequivocally condemn the ongoing airstrikes, which resulted in the death of many civilians, among which ten members of the Mariupol Greek Community.

• We have called upon Russia to forthwith halt the airstrikes, as well as any action targeting innocent civilians.

• Responding to Ukraine’s request and showing its tangible solidarity to the suffering Ukrainian people, Greece in cooperation with its NATO allies and its EU partners provided defence material, medical supplies, and significant humanitarian aid.

• The offensive of Russia against Ukraine spotlights the imperative character of the need for global accountability, since many things are at stake in the context of the Ukrainian crisis: the limits of International Law, the effect and respect of Treaties, as well as the very right of states to live in freedom.

• For the first time ever, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and of other kind of assistance to reinforce the resilience of a country, which is under attack. In the said framework, we applaud the Council’s both resolutions relating to the aid measures.

• The developments in Ukraine highlight the need for a substantial European strategic autonomy: autonomy in decision-making, in choices, in action. We must act as a mighty and cohesive political actor to support our democracies’ founding values and principles, to take up greater responsibility for our security and to support international peace along with our partners. Now is the time to act in concert.

• It is time for the members of the EU to spend more on defence, and I am particularly satisfied with the member states’ intention to increase their defence budgets.

• In a few days, the “Strategic Compass”, which marks a high level of ambition of our agenda in the field of security and defence, will be approved. Nonetheless, it seems that, as from the outset, it will be required to prove its added value in practice. It is linked to our reliability, to protecting the defence and security of our civilians, our states and our Union.

• This requires determination and collective action. But it is worth trying, if we are to establish the suitable framework to forge our defence and to actively respond to the threats against our countries’ defence and security.