The Summit meeting has just finished, after having reviewed an extremely dense agenda in a particularly crucial point in time. The European Council has addressed several highly important issues. Please let me briefly review the conclusions and the key topics discussed and, then, I can answer your questions.
First of all, I would like to refer to the issue of Turkey’s provocative behaviour and the discussion we had during last night’s dinner. I would like to read in Greek the conclusions which were unanimously agreed by my counterparts following our suggestion and, of course, always in cooperation with Cyprus:
“The European Council recalls its previous conclusions on Turkey of 22 March and 20 June. It reconfirms its conclusions of 17th and 18th of October concerning Turkey’s illegal drilling activities in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone. The Turkey-Libya Memorandum of Understanding on the delimitation of maritime jurisdictions in the Mediterranean Sea infringes upon the sovereign rights of third States, does not comply with the Law of the Sea and cannot produce any legal consequences for third States. The European Council unequivocally reaffirms its solidarity with Greece and Cyprus regarding these actions by Turkey.”
As you can understand from the text of the Conclusions, I requested and received full support for Greece by all the EU Member States against Turkey’s provocative behaviour. I had the opportunity to inform the Heads of State and Government in detail about the “agreement” between Libya and Turkey, because this memorandum, which is, for us, a completely invalid memorandum both in terms of substance, as it breaches the inalienable rights of Greek islands to sea zones, and in terms of formal legitimisation process, as I would like to remind you that this memorandum has not been verified by the Libyan Parliament.
In fact, you know very well that when the President of the Libyan Parliament visited Athens, he clearly stated that this memorandum is against the mere interests of his country and that it only generates instability in the wider region.
I would like to send a message of certainty and confidence from here in Brussels to all the Greeks from Kastelorizo to Corfu and from Gavdos to Evros: I want all of them to know that we are calm and confident and that we do have a plan. Not only because we are right, but also because we have strong allies who will always support Greece at defending its sovereign rights.
Let me now refer to the second issue we discussed; The big economic and social challenge of our times, climate change. We had an extensive discussion on the European Green Deal, a European Commission proposal introduced by Mrs. von der Leyen whom I congratulated in public for the speed at which she introduced this proposal. It is a consistent, ambitious but also realistic proposal on how Europe can become a world pioneer in addressing this major problem which is probably the most important one that humanity has to address.
All Member States, except from Poland, agreed on the central target, i.e. on the climate neutrality of the Union by 2050. Poland requested a six-month extension in order to be able to agree on the same target. I had the opportunity to inform the other Prime Ministers on the bold initiatives undertaken by the Greek Government under the national plan on energy and climate. Changes that mark a drastic change in the very production model of the country. And, of course, I reiterated that Greece is at the forefront of the lignite phase-out effort on a European level, as you know very well that we have announced that by 2028 at the latest we aim to have shut down all the Greek power stations consuming lignite.
However, at the same time, to be able to do so, I insisted that we will need direct access to what we call Just Transition Fund, which has been created to support European Regions which will be greatly affected, mainly on employment level, by this rapid transition from dirty to clean energies.
We believe that this mechanism will be soon activated and, upon completion of the discussions, we will know the framework of the next programme period, the multiannual financial framework and the resources that will be allocated to it. The initial budget is around 100 billion euros. I want Greece and mainly the Regions that will be affected by this transition (and I refer firstly to Western Macedonia and secondly to the Peloponnese), I want Greek citizens living in these Regions to know that Greece will actively claim serious and important resources from the Just Transition Fund which will allow us to support local employment and suggest to these Regions a new development model, compatible with a low-carbon economy.
I also asked Mrs. Von der Leyen to take into account under the European Green Deal the important work carried out by the previous European Commission, regarding the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. I refer to rescEU, an initiative introduced by Christos Stylianides. It is a mechanism which is absolutely necessary for us to be able to unite operational forces to address the impact of climate change which affects us today and not in some years from now.
I refer to the fires, the floods and the drought. The European Union is able to allocate more resources and means to this mechanism. Greece will be a strong supporter of it. I believe that this will be an even more practical proof of European solidarity, when we most need it i.e. when we are dealing with a crisis.
Referring to crisis, I would like to highlight that one last point was added in the European Council Conclusions, emphasising on European solidarity to Albania after the recent earthquake. It is important to organise, as soon as possible, a European donors’ conference so as to provide concrete support to Albania in its restructuring effort. As you know very well Greece was the first country that showed its concrete solidarity. The work of the Greek Special Units of Emergency is not only successful, but also truly moving. We rescued human lives under the debris. Once again, I would like to thank the women and men working in the Special Unit of Emergency who make us proud both in Greece and abroad.
This morning, we had the opportunity to discuss the issue of the Eurozone financial governance and I referred to the performance of the Greek economy. As you know, Greece is the only Eurozone country that is still under an enhanced surveillance process. Our aim is to stop this as soon as possible and, of course, to be able to return, as I have already stated, within the 1st quarter, at the latest within the 1st quarter of 2021, at the investment level so as to be able to access the “cheap money” provided by the European Central Bank. Next Tuesday afternoon, I will be in Frankfurt and I will meet Mrs. Christine Lagarde whom I would like to thank for her recent praise for the course of the Greek economy.
However, I had the opportunity to explain in brief why some rules from the past, rules of strong fiscal discipline, and especially the provisions that oblige us to have an extremely high primary surplus of 3.5%, have actually become outdated as a result of developments. As I have already reiterated in public, Greece will raise the issue of primary surpluses in 2020 and their reduction from 2021 onwards. We believe that the time has come. Firstly, on the Eurogroup level, this discussion can begin in 2020 maybe even during the first semester of 2020. This can provide concrete results for Greek people. We have been completely consistent with what we have said and done since the first day of our election in the finance sector and beyond. This significantly increases the level of reliability of our country when participating in broader European discussions.
Finally, towards the end of the Summit we also discussed about the developments in Great Britain. I congratulate Boris Johnson for his great electoral success.
I have said this many times, I regret that the United Kingdom has chosen to leave the European Union, but at least now there is clear political visibility for the withdrawal process. Of course, we have an extremely tight timetable by the end of the year so that we can negotiate at European level the new partnership between the European Union and the United Kingdom.
We reaffirmed our confidence in the European Union’s negotiator, Mr. Barnier. And we have once again stated publicly that the European Union will come to the debate on this also completely united so that the European Commission on behalf of the Member States can negotiate the best possible agreement for the European Union and the United Kingdom.
I conclude my statement here and I think, Mr. Petsas, we can now answer to questions.
ST. PETSAS: Thank you, Mr. President. We will accept some questions starting with Mrs. Mourelatou from ANT1 television.
ST. MOURELATOU: Mr. President, you have achieved this diplomatic isolation of Turkey. We have a strong European support. Nevertheless, at least at rhetorical level, we see them continuing their provocation. There have been new statements by the Turkish Energy Minister that Turkey would undertake seismic surveys in the maritime area they have demarcated with Libya. So, my question is what will be our next steps, so that this diplomatic isolation can minimize the Turkish provocation both in terms of action and in rhetoric?
K. MITSOTAKIS: Look, the first thing we will continue to do and say is that we consider this “agreement” as far as Greece is concerned as void, unfounded. It’s a most nugatory “agreement”. Therefore, we do not under any circumstances recognize that this “agreement” produces any legal effects. And this is something that we will continue to insist on asserting in all international fora, including of course the United Nations.
I would like to remind you that this “agreement” has not yet been formally notified to the United Nations. It will take time for this. And we assert that there is a valid reason, especially regarding the legitimacy of the “agreement”, its political legitimacy. That is to say, it’s the fact that it does not have the support and approval of the Libyan Parliament that requires this “agreement” not to be notified to the United Nations at all. But this is a UN-related process and we will continue to defend the rights of the Greek positions. Beyond that, Greece will do whatever needed and required, I will repeat, whatever needed and required, to defend its sovereign rights.
We have seen many statements by Turkey with various scales of intensity. I understand why there might be frustration on the other side. Turkey is desperately isolated diplomatically after the move it made to sign this invalid “memorandum of understanding” with Libya. I want to remind of the overall context of condemnation that is not just about the European Union. We had a clear condemnation from the U.S.A. which marked Turkey’s behaviour as provocative. Also the US Ambassador made a clear statement, which confirms the self-evident fact that obviously islands have also sovereign rights, an Exclusive Economic Zone and a continental shelf. We had a condemnation from Russia, a condemnation from Israel, a condemnation from Egypt. Turkey is isolated in this debate and this may also cause some nervousness which is reflected in such statements. We have no reason to do so, we do not play with words, Mrs. Mourelatou, and we are clear in what we say. We defend our national rights and our national integrity in every way that is necessary.
G. TROUPIS: Mr. President, you told us yesterday about the intervention you made at the dinner as regards the Turkish provocation. I would like to know if there were any other European leaders’ interventions on this issue during the dinner.
K. MITSOTAKIS: Of course there have been, though, as you know, there is often a preparation that takes place at another level. Every single one of the speakers pointed out and repeated their full support to Athens and Cyprus. I think some will also make public statements. President Macron was very supportive and I would like to specially thank him publicly, because he was also the one who publicly supported the rights of the Greek positions in NATO. As you know, discussions in NATO are often much more sterile, but he did so in NATO, and he did the same also today. But I do not want to make particular distinctions. There was a comprehensive discussion.
There was a discussion, Mr. Troupi, about the refugee problem. These are two distinct issues for me. The refugee problem is an issue that concerns the European Union-Turkey relationship, it is not a purely bilateral issue, it obviously has also bilateral implications. And as far as the refugee issue is concerned, the European Union is fully prepared to find a modus vivendi and a form of cooperation with Turkey, but that presupposes, I will say it again, that Turkey will take action on this issue, in accordance with Turkey’s respective obligations. And its respective obligations are the control of the refugee flows, the cooperation of its own coastguard with the Greek coastguard, the dismantling of the networks of traffickers. It is in Turkey’s interest to do so. So there was a also a debate about the refugee problem, but, on the major issue raised by us at the European Council, there was absolutely no divergence from the main Greek position, but mere unequivocal support from all the Heads of States and Governments who took the floor.
SP. MOURELATOS: Mr. President, I wanted to ask about the refugee problem in particular. There are concerns inside and outside Greece that this diplomatic isolation of Turkey, which you are keen to pursue both in the European Union forum and in the NATO forum, is likely to have negative side effects. And since, as you have explained in the recent past, the situation in Greece is unfavourable in this respect, I want to know if you have received any guarantees by the European partners that this situation will improve in the next months. The winter months, as yourself have said, are crucial for the country and are not affected by this condemnation, dismissal, or disapproval against Turkey. Thank you very much.
K. MITSOTAKIS: First of all, I would like to wish you a happy name day, Mr. Mourelatos. I want to be very clear. The defence of our sovereign rights cannot be weighted and is in no way subject to offsetting against any other policies pursued by the country. What I told you about our sovereign rights applies in full. If this ends up having a negative impact on the refugee problem, at Turkey’s fault, we will deal with it, but no one must expect from Greece to make the slightest discount on these issues as Turkey may come to blackmail our country in future by increasing the flow of refugees and immigrants.
We will deal with this issue separately, but I want to be very clear that there can be no offsetting and no assumption regarding these issues that we can handle them in a way that entangles them more than necessary.
M. POLLATOS: Mr. President, you said that the isolation of Turkey is causing nervousness in Ankara. Do you think that Erdogan will get the message from the European Council or do you believe that it is possible to launch surveys in areas of the Greek continental shelf, as Turkish Energy Minister Dönmez said yesterday? And on the occasion of the statements of the Bulgarian Prime Minister, I would say ambiguous statements, do the positions of our partners and allies satisfy you? That is, if the circumstances so require, will they put their words into action?
K. MITSOTAKIS: Look, I would hope that we won’t get to some escalation. That is not up to us though. I want to be absolutely clear. As I told you, we will do whatever needed to defend our sovereign rights. Beyond that, if the message reaches the other side, it concerns the other side.
In regard to the statements of my friend, Boyko. You know, sometimes we also get a little lost in translation, because Boyko speaks Bulgarian. What I have kept from what he has said – and, in any case, he has said this in the Council in front of me – is that he has strongly supported Greece in light of the Turkish provocation. There is no asterisk, no reservation in this matter. He did a more general analysis also on the issues of the refugee problem, and I believe his comments were merely about this unity, not the first issue we discussed.
G. KANTELIS: Mr. Prime Minister, after your meeting with President Erdogan at NATO, what he and Turkey have done after this meeting, would you seek to meet him again soon? Do you think this would be effective?
K. MITSOTAKIS: This is not something I’m planning right now, Mr. Kantelis. On the other hand, I would like to tell you that the communication channel with Turkey is – and should be – open. So do we, since the first time I met Mr. Erdogan, I told him that I want to keep the channel of Confidence Building Measures open, that is to say, how to reduce the military tension, but also to enter into a new dialogue of exploratory discussions, contacts, and to see if there is any way we can find a common ground in our big differences on maritime zone issues.
We never end the discussion. However, the discussions should not take place just for the cameras and in order to create impressions. If there is serious reason and opportunity for us to be able to make progress on these issues, of course, and I am open to meeting President Erdogan at any time. But, at the moment, you understand that in light of the escalation degree from the Turkish side, I do not think that this would be productive in the short term.
A. PERDIKARIS: Mr. President, I would like to ask you, since the Government is pleased with this Summit, gaining this clear statement, the clear support marked as an umbrella and on the occasion of the next steps, what will be the line that you will present at the White House during your meeting with President Trump?
K. MITSOTAKIS: We will have the opportunity to inform the public opinion and the Mass Media about our planning ahead of my visit to the White House on the 7th of January. Beyond that, I want to repeat what I said before. The United States officially supports the Greek position on issues concerning the invalid “memorandum” between Turkey and Libya, and it seems clear to me that this support will be repeated at that level.
Beyond that, however, since you ask me, the framework of our bilateral relations is at an excellent level right now and our aim is to build on that also in respect of defence strategic cooperation, which, as you know, has recently been upgraded. Also in respect of cooperation on how we can equip our Armed Forces. For we must not forget that our preventive capacity goes through investments in our Armed Forces. Investments that unfortunately in the years of the crisis were generally neglected. I would like to remind you that the Greek Parliament also ratified the agreement to upgrade the F-16s, as well as the Mirage upgrades, so that we can support our planes and maximize their flight capabilities.
But, of course, I will have the opportunity to discuss our economic cooperation also in the United States with the President himself, since I attach great importance to the level of American investment that can be made in Greece. Greece is on the world economic map again. There is also a great deal of interest in US funds, not just by funds investing in stock market or bonds, but by funds that will create many well-paid jobs. And we want to build on this positive momentum, so that this important strategic relationship for our country gets even more substance and even more content.
E. VARVITSIOTI: Another subject. Greece has set a particularly ambitious goal of de-lignifying the country by 2028 at great cost to the economy, especially to the economy of Western Macedonia. Poland estimates its own transition by 2050 to 500 billion euros. I would like to know if we have a budget for the costs of this transition and if Greece will seek further funding beyond those that will be included in the multiannual financial framework.
K. MITSOTAKIS: First of all, I must tell you, Mrs. Varvitsioti, that the cost of the transition can be calculated in many different ways. Let me also tell you that the lignite plants that will be shut down in Western Macedonia are old lignite plants with completely outdated technology that are not economically sustainable even today, given the cost of carbon dioxide. Consequently, it is a decision which, in my view, is imperative, not only for environmental but also economic reasons.
Beyond that, shutting down these plants also entails – de facto – a very significant limitation of mining activity itself in Western Macedonia, that is, where many of the jobs are. We have an advantage. What is the advantage? If we begin first, we shall be the first ones to have the opportunity to raise issues and requests to the Just Transition Mechanism and make Western Macedonia, a Model Region in the transition from lignite to clean energy, as well as in any other economic activity. Apparently Poland, which is currently seeking an extension, is not eligible to request funds from the Just Transition Mechanism because it is not willing to undertake the commitments that all other European countries have made in order to be able to put this transition into practice. In other words, we have an advantage in being the first.
An inter-ministerial committee is under preparation – and we will be able to make announcements in the coming weeks – under the supervision of the Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Hatzidakis, with a coordinator who will be responsible for the entire just transition project, with a particular focus on Western Macedonia. We will discuss extensively with the bodies involved in the region, the Regional Governor, Members of Parliament, Mayors, and within the first quarter of 2020 we will have the opportunity to present a very comprehensive plan on how we envision this just transition. What are the new jobs that we can create, what are the areas, what development policy can support this transition to another development model and how we can keep jobs in Western Macedonia as well as – why not – create even more.
But let me close this issue with an observation that is not exclusively related to carbon dioxide emissions, which, as you know, are odourless, do not directly affect the environment, but contribute to the overall problem of climate change. The problem of Western Macedonia and lignite mining is not just related to this aspect. Having visited Western Macedonia many times, I know very well what the daily cost was to the environment, which this activity imposed on the citizens living in the area and concerns the quality of the atmosphere and the destruction of the landscape.
In other words, carbon dioxide is not the only reason why we need to get rid of lignite quickly. It also concerns the quality of the environment itself, the quality of life in these areas, the public health, which is also being degraded. And I believe that the conditions in Western Macedonia have matured so that this debate can be highly accepted by the local community. What I want to reiterate, and close with, is that we are not going to leave anyone in the lurch. It is my personal bet, at European level, to make, especially Western Macedonia, a leading Region, a pilot, a model on how we can put just transition into practice.
