M. Varvitsiotis: Greece supports Sweden’s request for NATO membership

The Deputy Foreign Minister Miltiadis Barvitsiotis had a meeting today with the Minister of European Affairs of Sweden Hans Dahlgren in Athens earlier today.

Sweden’s accession to NATO was at the center of the talks, with Mr Varvitsiotis expressing Greece ‘s support for the request by Sweden and Finland, noting that its submission was a historic decision and would strengthen Europe’ s collective security, according to relevant announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Dalgren thanked him for the support of our country and informed him about the discussions that are being held in order to reduce the objections of Turkey.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Mr. Varvitsiotis pointed out the need for an immediate end to it but also for the preservation of European unity in the face of the multiple crises that he created.

The two ministers also assessed the impact of European sanctions taken so far against Russia and discussed the new geopolitical chart that is being drawn up following the European Commission’s opinion on granting Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidate country. They noted that with this move, wrong messages should not be sent to the already candidate countries of the Western Balkans.

In view of the forthcoming European Council, the subject of the debate was the issue of Europe’s energy security. He emphasized the need to diversify Europe’s energy sources and to take action to tackle inflation in order to empower Europeans who are suffering financially.

Finally, during the meeting, Mr. Varvitsiotis informed the Swedish Minister of European Affairs about the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the escalation of the Turkish aggression, referring to the challenges that Greece is facing from Turkey’s delinquent behavior.

SOURCE: AMPE