M. Varvitsiotis: Greece supports EU-Russia dialogue but not to the detriment of EU or NATO membership prospects

“The Greek government supports further dialogue between the European Union and Russia. But this can not be done under conditions such as the restriction of the sovereign countries’ right to a future perspective of membership in the European Union or NATO.”

This was emphasized by Deputy Foreign Minister Miltiadis Barvitsiotis in an interview given to the Bloomberg news agency and to journalists Paul Tugwell and Sotiris Nika, on the issue of Ukraine.

He recalled the “severe” EU sanctions imposed on Russia after the invasion of Crimea in 2014, noting that “similar measures will be taken if something like this happens, which could jeopardize stability, security and territorial integrity of Ukraine “.

Elsewhere in his interview, he stressed that Greece’s desire to maintain its ties with Moscow “does not in any way invalidate our obligations or commitment to maintaining solidarity and unity, both with and against NATO.” of the EU “.

According to Bloomberg, the Deputy Foreign Minister accompanies Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the European Council Summits, while he was the one who prepared (in his capacity as Co-Chair of the Greece-Russia Joint Interministerial Committee) the Mitso meeting , last December.

In his interview, Mr. Varvitsiotis notes that Russia will be harmed if it decides to reduce gas exports to Europe. “I do not think there are other markets ready to import Russian gas,” he added.

He also says that there are alternative sources to Russian gas, including gas fields in Cyprus, Israel and Egypt. The energy produced in the region from these sources could be exported to Europe.