Europe rebuked the recent verbal attack on Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when he said “He no longer exists for me. I will never agree to meet with him. We will continue our way with honourable politicians.”
Respect between neighboring countries and maintaining good neighborly relations are the basis for constructive cooperation within the EU, noted EU Commission deputy chief spokeswoman Dana Spinant on Tuesday.
Responding to a question by Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), she noted that the Greek premier is the head of an EU member state who is recognized internationally and that "the EU expects Turkey to make a constructive commitment to the EU and its member states, and to take steps to de-escalate."
The Greek Prime Minister, who is currently at Davos at the World Economic Forum, highlighted Greece's role as an energy gateway to Europe through investments in infrastructure, during a dinner at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, at Davos.
At the forum, Mitsotakis, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez were each respondents to one of three introductory questions asked.
Government sources said that the Greek PM was asked, as a responsible leader placing the green agenda at the center of his policies, how Europe could remain a global model of responsible leadership in green transition in the new global reality following the invasion of Ukraine, as the war changed the energy systems.
Mitsotakis, the sources said, noted that the green transition and the implementation of a green agenda offered a great opportunity to Europe but that short term, there needed to be a solution to problems created by the global energy crisis to citizens. The Greek government, he said, has from the very start placed green policies at the center of its agenda, both in terms of dealing with the climate crisis and in terms of benefiting citizens.
He provided examples of actions, underlined Greece's geostrategic importance in Europe's energy map, and said that Greece is implementing strategic investments to upgrade and expand its infrastructure so it may become an entry gate for energy to flow into Europe and the European Union.
