Greek FM Dendias meets Polish counterpart Rau on sidelines of Warsaw Security Forum

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias focused on the war in Ukraine, relations with Turkey, and reaffirmed the historic Greek-Polish relations in statements following his meeting with Polish counterpart, Zbigniew Rau, in Warsaw on Wednesday.

Dendias was in Poland to attend the Warsaw Security Forum, and held a meeting with Rau on its sidelines.

"We had a long discussion about forces of darkness that try to impose a new European order," the Greek minister said, "not based on common principles and values, such as International Law, but based on force and the threat of the use of force."

In terms of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Dendias reiterated Greece's position on the respect of sovereignty of all states and the prohibition of use and threat of use of force, and raised the issue of accountability for crimes committed. He made particular reference to Ukrainian cities with long historical ties to Greece such as Mariupol and Odessa. "We would like to help so as to ensure that the historic city centre of Odessa is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to create a cultural protection shield over it," he said.

During his meeting he briefed Rau of developments with Turkey, and of the neighboring country's aggressive rhetoric. "Greece is not going to be deterred" or drag itself into a contest of words, he asserted. "We are content to see that the European Union, the US, Germany and our Egyptian friends have come out publicly to denounce Turkish practices," the Greek FM added, particularly after a new Turkey-Libyan memorandum signed recently.

Dendias also discussed migration and enhancing bilateral issues with his Polish counterpart, and invited Rau to visit Greece after Poland completes its chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).