M. Varvitsiotis: Parliament must send a strong message of unity and unanimity By extending its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 miles, Greece is sending a strong message that it can resolve its differences peacefully, extend its boundaries and, above all, protect its interests, stressed Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis during his speech before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on National Defense and Foreign Affairs with regard to the relevant draft law.Mr Varvitsiotis also stressed the need to send a message, without self-pity and free of party politics, that the Hellenic Parliament and the Greek people are united in a single direction: extending our national sovereignty in the Ionian Sea. As he characteristically stated, Parliament is being called upon to demonstrate that “Greece can handle issues concerning its national sovereignty with unity and unanimity”. For this reason, he called upon the Communist Party of Greece to change its stance during the parliamentary debate, rather than voting "present."The Alternate Minister added that Parliament is also sending this message to Turkey in view of the exploratory talks starting on 25 January. Particularly after everything that took place during 2020, when Turkey’s provocations sky-rocketed, the adoption of the draft law will signify, in his words, that “it is national and not party politics that will be taking a seat at the table”.In response to the opposition's criticism with respect to the issue of delimitation of the territorial sea, Mr Varvitsiotis stressed that, contrary to the lack of courage of the previous government, the current government pursues multilateral alliances, fortifies the country’s arguments, extends its national sovereignty and guarantees our national rights, identifying the rules of International Law as the sole means for resolving bilateral disputes. “Foreign policy is a shifting policy, affected by international developments, the overall security climate and international alliances. You must, therefore, act and react accordingly, create new alliances and prepare the ground for future moves”, he remarked.
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