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Irish Foreign Minister from Athens: It is unacceptable to question the sovereignty of an EU member state

“As I am here in Athens, it is important to make it clear and reiterate that we consider it unacceptable for the sovereignty of a European Union member state to be challenged,” said Irish Foreign Minister Simon Cowney in a joint statement with his Greek counterpart. Nikos Dendia, after their meeting in Athens. In fact, he stressed that European solidarity and coherence in addressing this issue is both important and crucial for achieving the right results, given the conflict in Ukraine, and expressed Ireland’s support for efforts to defuse tensions between the EU and of Turkey. In particular, he stressed the need for cooperation between the partners to ensure peace and security on the eastern borders, in the Balkans, in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East.

The Irish Foreign Minister noted that his visit to Athens was an opportunity to discuss with Nikos Dendias “very important issues that we face at the level of Europe and our neighbors”. These are challenges that transcend the borders of the Member States and the EU and can only be addressed through shared responsibility, solidarity and coordinated action at EU level, as he explained. He added that these challenges “force us to reiterate and reaffirm our values ​​and the goals on which the EU is founded, namely the consolidation of peace”.

He also expressed the common desire of the two countries to defend and maintain peace in Europe and to promote social prosperity, noting, however, that “the war in Ukraine is really something far removed from what we as Europeans seek.” It affects our common future, he added, noting that it is “a challenge we did not think we would face on our continent”. Countered as the key to success, solidarity, cooperation of partners to ensure peace and security.

Referring to the bilateral relations between Ireland and Greece, Simon Coveni described them as very strong and expressed the belief that the two countries are natural partners.

Pointing out that this is the first visit of an Irish Foreign Minister to Greece in 17 years, he expressed satisfaction that he agreed with the Greek Foreign Minister that they would not allow so much time to pass until an Irish Foreign Minister visits Athens again. At the same time, he pointed out that this long time gap between the visits does not show bad relations, but the opposite, referring to the 4 presidential visits from Ireland to Greece and many visits at the level of prime ministers.

He made a special reference to the approximately 100,000 Irish people who choose Greece for their holidays. “They love Greece very much. It is an excellent country, full of history, which has taught and continues to teach the world. And the Irish will continue to visit Greece to feel part of it and to build stronger bilateral relations,” he said. emphasis on cooperation between the two countries in the field of university and business research.

He also referred to yesterday’s celebrations in Ireland for James Joyce’s novel “Odyssey”. “It was inspired by the Odyssey and in fact the cover of this book is in blue and white, that is, the colors of Greece,” he remarked.

He also made special mention of the influence of Greek literature in Ireland. Greece and Greek literature have influenced Ireland, he said, urging those wondering to read Ireland’s most famous author, Jayce Joyce.

The Irish Foreign Minister further focused on the ongoing challenges related to Brexit, noting that it is an area in which co-operation at EU level was crucial and thanked Nico Dendias for his “continuing interest in the details of the issue and the Greece ‘s continued solidarity throughout this process “. He emphasized the need to focus on Brexit in 2022, and said that it was even more important with “Unfortunately, it is being undermined by the threat of domestic legislation in the British Parliament. But it will also open up a number of problems that we believe we have solved with this Agreement.”

In this regard, the Irish Foreign Minister urged the United Kingdom to reconsider this approach and thanked the EU Member States for their solidarity.

Finally, he invited Nikos Dendias to visit Dublin and said that he looks forward to the ongoing cooperation.

Source: Capital

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