“The preceding discussions were extremely substantive and fruitful, cultivating the ground for the further development of new partnerships, as well as the tightening of productive forces between the two countries for new investments and partnerships. In other words, for an even more ambitious chapter in Greek-French coexistence in many different sectors. The friendship between Greece and France has, after all, been founded on strong foundations, on relations of mutual trust with historical depth, but also on a common European consciousness, which has been forged at crucial moments in history, with French political thought valuing our country over time as an integral part of the European architecture”, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed during his address at the Greek-French Economic Forum, organised by SEV and the Hellenic-French Chamber of Commerce & Industry at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre.
He made a special reference to France’s contribution to Greece’s admission as the tenth member of the European Economic Community in 1981, expressing gratitude for a support that, he said, changed the fate of modern Greece.
He underlined the historical closeness that he said found its strongest expression in the strategic partnership agreement signed in Paris in 2021, a few months before the war in Ukraine began. “A landmark agreement, the upgrading of which we decided today with President Macron. So I would say that the two states are now closer than ever before, politically, strategically, economically, educationally, culturally. I would even say that this model of cooperation is perhaps the most advanced form of strategic relationship that Greece has developed with any EU member state. Something that is of critical, but also timely importance due to the juncture we are going through.
He reiterated that improving the competitiveness of the European economy is a prerequisite for being able to maintain the generous social model, which ultimately distinguishes us from other regions of the world.
“Greek-French cooperation can essentially serve as a model for the ways in which Europe as a whole could move forward,” he said.
He said that the crises we are going through are many, but through them new opportunities are emerging and he underlined the importance of joint action.
He referred to the importance of expressing solidarity in practice and stressed that “the debate on European defence is no longer a theoretical discussion about the future. It is an immediate geopolitical necessity.”
The Prime Minister also said that “Greek-French cooperation must and is moving beyond the traditional vendor-supplier relationship to a logic of substantial co-production, a process that will link the Greek and French ecosystems at many different levels.” Our emphasis should be much more on cutting-edge areas such as cyber defence, unmanned systems, defence against unmanned systems,” he stressed, referring to the Centaurus system.
He stressed once again the need to improve the competitiveness of the European economy, “a priority which is becoming a necessity”.
The Prime Minister concluded his address with another important common priority, as he said, “which concerns the financing of the very ambitious intentions that Europe has developed, whether we are talking about the level of defence, the level of competitiveness, or the level of the climate crisis. The diagnosis has been made by all of us. It has been done first of all by Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta, in the interesting studies that they have done. We know what we have to do. We know that we need less bureaucracy and a simpler regulatory framework. We know that we need to complete the savings and investment union as soon as possible, we know that we need to invest in our human resources and we know that we need to assess now how education and training are linked to rapid changes in the labour market. And “we also know that we need to take real steps to finally have a single European energy market”, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed.
“What I can assure you of is that Greece and France, France and Greece are absolutely aligned in this effort and it is really a great pleasure to welcome President Macron in Athens today on a very important visit with his delegation, not only to sign the important agreements that we have signed, but to confirm that behind the texts, behind the initial agreements there is something deeper. There are relations of appreciation but also of love between our peoples and as you said yesterday that France loves Greece, I assure you that in the same way Greece loves France.”
