The Alternate Minister of Defence Dimitris Vitsas during an interview today Wednesday 15 March 2017 on Real FM and journalist Nikos Stravelakis stated the following:
On the Dutch elections and the threats of Turkey concerning the agreement on the refugee issue:
These matters, I am talking about the Dutch-Turkish crisis should be dealt with temperance. Politics doesn’t happen from one moment to the next , we need to be observing facts with temperance. Today the election procedure is completed in the Netherlands, we will judge the results tomorrow and the days to come. I believe that this crisis bears the mark of elections and a referendum as well, because they all speak in order to raise the morale of their audience. Of course the Turkish leadership is causing tension.
As far as the refugee issue is concerned I have stated in the past that its management is a humanitarian matter, it cannot and should not be used as a weapon. In this sense the tension is kind of rhetorical. The past days or months we have no refugee or immigrant flows in the country from Turkey. In this sense yes, I am watching out, but I am not afraid.
As Ministry of National Defence you should know that we are preparing for all scenarios. This is the mission we have assumed, as dictated by the Constitution and the Greek people.
On the preparation in case of a heated incident in the Aegean :
We are preparing for all scenarios. I believe that a heated incident will not happen, we should be more worried or concerned in case of an accident. So what we should do at diplomatic level or at preparation level is to take all measures so that this possibility is reduced to the minimum. On one side this means that at political and international level we are operating by being prepared and keeping the allied countries posted, as well as by talking with the other side. Secondly, our own people in the Armed Forces have received clear instructions on how they will react and I believe that so far they are impeccable.
On an MoD rhetoric with Ankara:
The MoD operates perfectly, and the cooperation with the Minister and the military leadership is impeccable. This is very important. Maybe we have different styles of expression. What we are doing in the Ministry of Defence is to convey messages of temperance and decisiveness. I believe that the Minister is doing the same his way.
On the statement by Minister Giorgos Katrougalos when asked if Greece will allow to Turkish Officials, if they ask so, to run an elections campaign in Greece on the referendum .
Giorgos has answered this. All kinds of bilateral relations and multilateral ones happen in the context of specific conditions and some kind of understanding. Don’t be nonplussed if in the future a Turkish Official goes to the Netherlands to give a lecture, personally I will not be surprised, because some things are determined by time and space. That’s why this kind of tension rhetoric is harmful.
In Thrace there are Greek citizens, so I believe any election campaigns cannot happen. That said, following an understanding with the Greek Government, a Turkish official may ask to tour any part of the country and the Greek government may grant this wish if they find this advisable. This has happened in the past and it will happen again. These things happen following agreements and discussions and if the host nation accepts so.
On the matter if there is money to spend on the new armament programs.
In the Ministry of National Defence we follow a policy defined by Panos Kammenos, me and the military leadership. We are focusing on three things: the maintenance of the current armament systems, their upgrade and targeted purchases. All this within our fiscal contexts. They are talking about a party of billions which is not true. It is within our fiscal contexts and what we want to achieve for the moment is to firstly upgrade the capabilities of the Air Force , again within our fiscal context. People should not worry about our armouring, neither about the fact that we are going on an armaments hunt with Ankara.
