The Minister of National Defence Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos participated in the Informal Meeting of EU Defence Ministers, which was held in Prague, on 29 and 30 August 2022.
At the discussion on the developments in Ukraine, the Minister expressed his concern regarding the serious repercussions of the war in Ukraine, and underlined the need to coordinate the efforts aiming at its termination.
He highlighted the need to enhance European defence and security, as well as to ensure unity against the Russian aggressiveness, based on the EU’s Strategic Compass.
Mr. Panagiotopoulos underlined the importance of Europe’s strategic autonomy, as well as the contribution, in this light, of future programmes such as common defence procurements, under EU’s proposed regulation on Common Procurements and their VAT exemption.
He also referred to considering the appropriateness of exempting common defence procurements from the existing government deficit criteria.
In the context of the Summit’s works, the working lunch for the Ministers was also attended by the Ukrainian Defence Minister Mr. Oleksii Reznikov, by videoconference (VTC).
Mr. Panagiotopoulos expressed our country’s sympathy for the suffering people of Ukraine, as well as the Greek Government’s firm position supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. In addition, he noted the Greek contribution to defence materiel, medical supplies and humanitarian aid, as well as the importance for full implementation of the sanctions against Russia.
He also mentioned that, in the course of the discussion regarding the proposal to send EU military assistance to Ukraine, for military training, all aspects and factors related to its deployment should be considered.
In the margins of the Summit’s work, the Minister of National Defence met with the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Defence of Germany, Ms. Siemtje Möller, and the Minister of Defence of France, Mr. Sébastian Lecornu, matters of mutual interest pertaining to bilateral cooperation were discussed at these meetings.
