Foreign Minister stresses Greek role in regional stability

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias used his appearance at a meeting of Med Group diplomats in Paris on Friday to stress the geopolitical importance of Greece?s eurozone partners helping to prevent the country?s economic collapse.

Kotzias said he argued that the destabilization of Greece at this time would be particularly dangerous given the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East and the conflict in Ukraine.

?If some people destabilize Greece because they want to humiliate our country or to gain revenge for the resistance shown by the election result, they should bear in mind that they will see the whole of Europe destabilized,? he said after the meeting of foreign ministers from Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Malta. The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union Federica Mogherini also attended.

?They cannot punish Greece without punishing themselves,? added Kotzias

During the meeting in Paris, the Med Group ministers examined the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean region with emphasis on developments in Syria, Iraq and Libya, as well as the crisis in Ukraine, which Kotzias visited on Thursday for talks with his counterpart Pavlo Klimkin.