Everything is ready for the meeting of Mitsotakis and Blinken in Chania

Shortly after 5:30 PM on Saturday afternoon, the US Secretary of State arrived in Crete Anthony Blinken To meet with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The US Secretary of State went directly to the Prime Minister's Residence in Akrotiri Chania where preparations began in the morning with all established protocols in place and security measures particularly increased, as reported by Cretapost.

Earlier, the head of American diplomacy met in Istanbul with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The topics of the talks between Mitsotakis and Blinken will be developments in the Middle East, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the ongoing war in Ukraine, strategic cooperation between Greece and the United States and the purchase of F-35 fighters from Greece. Which Athens expects immediate positive developments.

The first arrivals

As of 4pm, the first Greek politicians who will participate in the meeting began to arrive, and they were received by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is already in Chania.

On the Greek side, Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou, Director of the Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Office, Ambassador Anna Maria Bora, and the Special Advisor for International Policy and Public Diplomacy to the Prime Minister. Minister Aristotelia Belloni will participate in the meeting. On the island of Crete, in addition to those accompanying the American Minister, is the American Ambassador to Greece, George Tsonis, who met the day before yesterday with Mr. Gerapetritis for this reason.

Gerapetritis: Positive developments for the F-35 announced shortly before Mitsotakis meets Blinken

The discussion that Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Antony Blinken will have today in Chania will revolve around two axes – developments in the Middle East and Ukraine but also the issue of F-35 aircraft – as stated on Saturday morning by Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, who will participate in the working meeting that will follow the Prime Minister’s private meeting with the US Secretary of State. .

He added: “The conversation will revolve around two axes: the first is the international developments in our neighbourhood. We have two wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, where we have a serious risk of expansion. In the Middle East in particular, there are worrying signs about domino developments. I will visit Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the coming days.” But I will also meet my counterparts in Israel and Palestine. “We will also discuss the issue of the F-35 aircraft and we expect to have positive developments,” Mr. Gerapetritis told SKAI. “I feel it is only a matter of time before Greece enters the F35 program. We are not separating ourselves in what “It's about what Turkey is doing.”

As he noted: “We cannot determine how the United States will distribute its defense equipment, but the rule of territorial integrity should be respected. Any equipment attributed to one NATO Ally should not be used against another.”

At the same time, the Foreign Minister once again made it clear that “issues that belong to the country’s sovereignty will never be discussed or reviewed.” For us, sovereignty is non-negotiable, and no politician can negotiate such issues. There will be no room for amendment or revision of the Treaty of Lausanne. For us, this treaty constitutes a sacred and solid legal foundation.” Regarding Syriza’s positions, he commented: “It is unreasonable for such serious issues to enter into political fermentation and political competition.”

Regarding relations with Turkey, he said: “We want the differences with Turkey not to cause tensions. We do not seek war and hostility, but we want to ensure our defense adequacy.”

When asked about this, Mr. Gerapetritis also said, “No one asked me about the issue of gray areas, but I will not allow that either. Greece will not pay even one iota of its rights.”

He added: “We have now reached the point of maturity for Greece and Turkey to live in peace. It is a great benefit that we do not have any violations in the airspace. On the Turkish side, there is greater enthusiasm for dismantling the slave trade rings. The big issue behind this issue is defining the limits of the continental shelf.” “And the exclusive economic zone. It is an issue that could end in The Hague. At this stage we have not discussed this issue. It is something that will come in the future. We are moving forward step by step without leaps.”

Mr. Gerapetritis also announced that he will present in the Cabinet on Tuesday “the new National Strategy for Diaspora Hellenization which will include a series of measures that will bring Diaspora Hellenism closer to the capital.”

There was no proposal at all to “appoint” Kasellakis as minister

Giorgos Gerapetritis was also asked about the post denied by the government about “Mitsotakis's proposal to Kasselakis for a ministry in 2019” and he replied that “there is categorically no such proposal.”

He said: “There is an attempt by the head of the Syriza party to emerge on the political surface. It would be good to focus on political issues. It would be good for Syriza to have a more solid structure. There can be no such proposal because there is no coincidence in the characteristics of Mitsotakis- “Kasilakis”.

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