Chatzivasiliou: We are firmly on the side of Sinai Monastery with the aim of shielding its Greek Orthodox character

‘We are firmly on the side of historical Sinaiwith the aim of shielding its Greek Orthodox character, “the Deputy Foreign Minister said Tasos Hatzivasiliou In his radio intervention on Real FM.

Referring to the recent ruling of the Egyptian Court of Justice and the immediate mobilization of the Greek government, he recalled that the matter had been raised both at the meeting of the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis with the Egyptian President in Athens, and in their recent telephone communication. As he pointed out, the solution is within the context of the Athens and Cairo Common will, as it was publicly expressed by Mr. Sisi himself.

The deputy minister stressed that the Greek side is coming to Cairo on Wednesday with an upgraded composition under Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis to discuss the pending agreement. The aim of Athens is to fully ensure the character of the Holy Monastery of St. Catherine. At the same time he rejected the opposition criticism saying that “we must be serious”.

Referring to his visit to Kiev, he said that yesterday’s night in the Ukrainian capital was episodic, as the Sirens for a Russian airflow was twice sounded at 02:50 and 04:40, and the Greek mission was forced to go to the hotel. He emphasized the difficult daily life of the war, which – as he said – remains fortunately foreign to Greek reality.

He pointed out that he is in the Ukrainian capital head of business mission with the participation of 11 Greek companies who will meet with 80 Ukrainian companies, exploring opportunities for involvement in the country’s rebuilding process. As he said, businesses from the areas of energy, construction, technology, infrastructure, security and shipping are involved, and he will have contacts with Ukrainian ministers.

Responding to a question, he said that Greece continues its planning on issues of sovereignty and sovereign rights, citing as an example, maritime spatial planning as tangible evidence of defending national interests.

For the Safe mechanism, he stressed that there was a lack of will on the part of the EU countries. Explicitly exclude third countries by agreements. Following the successful intervention of Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, with the support of YIPEX Alexandra Papadopoulou, it was ensured that a third country in European defense programs and funding of 150 billion euros would be involved in a third country. “We have prevented the unconditional equipment involvement of a third country, whose interests contradict those members of the Union, thanks to the provision of Article 16 of the Regulation,” he noted.