Mitsotakis Firm on Foreign Policy: No Troops to Ukraine, No Pacific Mission for Frigate

October 16, 2025 | 19:50 | Politics | Newsroom

In a fiery parliamentary exchange, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis firmly ruled out deploying Greek troops to Ukraine or sending the Bellhara frigate to the Pacific, while staunchly defending his government's foreign policy choices amid opposition fire.

Addressing Communist Party leader Dimitris Koutsoubas, Mitsotakis underscored Greece's non-interventionist stance: "Greece will not send troops to Ukraine, and the Bellhara frigate mission will not be in the Pacific." He pivoted to Libya, noting that Tripoli has not contested the median line for maritime zones—a development he described as "positive" and central to Greece's interests, dismissing the Turkish-Libyan memorandum as illegal and irrelevant to bilateral delimitation.

Turning to PASOK's Nikos Androulakis, Mitsotakis unleashed a sharp critique of the 2009 crisis under George Papandreou's government. "History records that Greece went bankrupt and collapsed in your hands," he charged. "Instead of rolling up sleeves, you were promising and distributing €2 billion until December with the slogan 'money exists'—and then the country collapsed." On a brighter note, he highlighted the Great Sea Interconnector cable project as "vital for Cyprus and decisive for Hellenism," aimed at ending Cyprus's energy isolation. Mitsotakis revealed a "roadmap" forged with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to resolve hurdles, insisting that pending issues—like economic viability claims—must be tackled first.

Stance on Palestine: Strategic Ties with Israel Take Precedence

The session grew tense over Palestine recognition, with SYRIZA's Sokratis Famellos pressing the government. Mitsotakis explained the decision to hold off: Greece maintains a "strategic relationship with Israel, not with Netanyahu." Rushing recognition now, he argued, would harm national interests when conditions are "immature." Instead, abstaining positions Greece as a "credible interlocutor" for both Palestinians and Israelis. "We judge this is the right choice at this moment," he affirmed, while condemning Israeli settlements as "illegal and condemnable."

He flipped the script on SYRIZA: "Why didn’t the SYRIZA government recognize the Palestinian state for 4.5 years?" Mitsotakis posited that even if they recognized the timing wasn't right, they would proceed. He contrasted the opposition's parliamentary attacks with their more measured tones in the National Council of Foreign Policy.

OPEKEPE Probe: 'Let Everyone Testify'

On the OPEKEPE agricultural payments scandal, Mitsotakis welcomed scrutiny, responding to opposition barbs: "Whoever you want will come to the investigative committee—' Frapes,' 'Hasapis,' Mylonakis—we won't stand in the way." He stressed the probe's deeper timeline reveals "chronic characteristics" predating his administration. To Androulakis, he quipped: "Do you believe, Mr. Androulakis, that this issue concerns only New Democracy officials and that PASOK officials in Crete had no involvement in illegal subsidies? Don’t you think so? Let everyone come; the government won't obstruct."

In a parting shot at SYRIZA, Mitsotakis mused on internal rifts: "It’s a matter for discussion when a former prime minister abandons his party, you support his policies, and he leaves you out in the cold"—a clear nod to Alexis Tsipras's exit.