Mitsotakis hails move to grant Ukraine EU candidate-state status

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to a very important political decision expected to be taken by the European Council in granting candidate-country status to Ukraine and Moldavia, in his brief statement before entering the session on Thursday in Brussels.

Mitsotakis said the decision by the European Union comes as a response to the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

“Ukraine has the right to request its accession into the European family, and the decision to grant the country candidate status sends a clear message by the EU, not only of support for Ukraine amid this difficult juncture, but as the opening of a door to the Ukrainian people, namely, that they can request their inclusion into the European family.”

Beyond the very timely issue of Ukraine, Mitsotakis said he’ll also brief members of the European Council on developments in the eastern Mediterranean.

He added that Athens was fully satisfied by a draft text of conclusions, which includes a very clear statement calling on Turkey to cease its attempts to dispute the sovereignty and territorial integrity of European Union member-states, and to return to a policy of de-escalation, with full respect to international law.

“I truly hope Turkey will listen this time to these persuasions, because this is the only way to reduce the tension that has been created over the past two months in the eastern Mediterranean, with the exclusive perpetrator being the neighboring country (Turkey),” he said.