Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos participated at the EU Foreign Affairs Council held in Luxembourg, on April 14. About Ukraine he stated that “we are seeing rapid, dangerous developments in Ukraine. The European policy is firm and clear. It is based on two pillars. The first is respect for the international legal order, for national sovereignty and for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and all countries. The second is the need for de-escalation and avoiding the use or the threat of violence. It is extremely critical for Europe that we not become entangled in a permanent problem, but that we find an agreed, mutually acceptable and practicable solution through political and diplomatic means. This is why we must pursue the holding of the quadrilateral meeting, which has, in principle, been scheduled for this week.

In his statement on Syria, Venizelos referred to the need for the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on confronting the humanitarian aspects of the crisis, as a human tragedy continues to unfold.

He further briefed the Council yet again on the Greek reservations regarding the process for the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal. Venizelos reiterated that the Greek position is that the hydrolysis at sea should be carried out in open waters, and not in the Mediterranean. Given, however, that this matter will be decided by the UN Security Council, if, in the end, hydrolysis in Mediterranean waters is chosen, it must be ensured that full guarantees are provided with regard to the protection of the Mediterranean marine environment; the EU should actively exercise its role on monitoring the implementation of these guarantees.
 In his statement at the EU Foreign Affairs Council regarding the situation in Bosnia Herzegovina, the Greek foreign minister stressed that Bosnia-Herzegovina’s major issue continues to be the constitutional architecture of the Dayton Agreement, because under the constitutional pretext of a federation, in reality, there is de facto functioning of a confederal state.

See also Greek News Agenda: On Ukraine