Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking earlier on Friday at the opening Townhall debate “Currency for Change: World Politics on a Budget” at the 60th Munich Security Conference, proposed establishing a policy that leads to growth. He said this would be the most appropriate so that European states can continue to afford to finance their defense while also achieving their fiscal goals.
“Greece has always spent a lot of money on its defense, as it is constantly faced with significant geopolitical challenges, which other member states of the Union do not face. We must continue to do this, but at the same time be smarter in our approach,” Mitsotakis noted. He emphasized that “this will be another challenge, as our budgets are under pressure, due to the technological and energy transition as our economies emerge from the pandemic.”
The prime minister underlined that “we will have to streamline the European defense industry and make strategic decisions on where to direct our resources, as there cannot be six or seven different suppliers of weapons systems in Europe.”
Mitsotakis said it was necessary to ensure that Europe’s defense industry adapts to the new geopolitical challenges, and to the new way in which military confrontations are now being conducted around the world.
The Greek prime minister also referred to the European Union’s recent decision to treat defense spending differently when calculating the debt of each EU member-state, while he stressed that the landmark decision to create the Recovery Fund should be a guide in the effort to find more resources for defense.
At the start of the debate, Economist editor-in-chief and panel moderator Zanny Beddoes congratulated the Greek prime minister on passing a bill for civil marriage equality for same-sex couples, while Mitsotakis was applauded by those present. He declared himself proud to be the leader of a centre-right party, which managed to pass the specific bill.
When asked whether world leaders are working to consolidate peace, the Greek prime minister explained that Greece has an aggressive neighbor on its eastern border but has always been the one to steadfastly support reconciliation and is now trying to establish a more permanent easing of tensions with Turkiye.
PM Mitsotakis meetings with foreign leaders in Munich
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a number of meetings with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the 60th Security Conference of Munich on Friday.
The prime minister met his Lithuanian counterpart Ingrida Šimonytė, for talks focused on European issues as well as on the developments in Ukraine, according to government sources.
Later, Mitsotakis met with the President of the Kurdistan region of Iraq Nechirvan Barzani. They discussed bilateral relations and the prospects of strengthening them, especially in economic relations, while they also discussed developments in the broader Middle East, the same sources said.
Mitsotakis also met his counterpart from Kosovo, Albin Kurti. The Greek premier reiterated Greece support for the Western Balkan countries’ accession to the EU and for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
Additionally, the prime minister met with the president of the Christian-Democratic Union of Germany, Friedrich Merz, with whom they exchanged views on June’s European elections and on the common challenges that the EU member-states are encountering.
As government sources noted, Mitsotakis’ interlocutors congratulated him on the initiative to legislate for equal marriage for couples of the same sex.
