Athens: Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent a message on Monday, saying that countries threatening European countries with war cannot participate in the SAFE program in his statements during his meeting in Athens with the President of the European Council, Ant³nio Costa.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the Greek Prime Minister stressed that Athens actively supports the project and underlined the need for a common European financial instrument in this direction, referring in particular to anti-missile systems. “Our position is that countries that threaten EU countries with war cannot participate,” said Mitsotakis, pointing towards Turkey, without making explicit reference. He added that “it is up to them to build good relations with Europe, but this requires respect for its principles.”
For his part, the President of the European Council expressed the need for unity within the European Union and stressed that everyone needs to work towards this goal. “When we talk about security, the first thing that comes to mind is the eastern border and the threat from Russia. But we cannot forget that we have other borders that need to be protected, from Cyprus to Finland and from Portugal to Romania. We need to improve the management of our borders to tackle illegal immigration and traffickers, and we need a stronger European migration policy,” he stressed, adding that he agrees with Mitsotakis on the need for joint financing for a common European defense.