“When we say that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an existential challenge to the world and to our values, then the response must be just as serious, it must be a pan-European response,” said Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, speaking at the Bled Strategic Forum 2022 Conference in Slovenia and, in particular, a panel on the topic: “How many challenges for Europe”.

As Mr. Dendias pointed out, states cannot rise to the challenge if they are left alone to pay a high price for protecting common European values. He added that the level of electricity prices today does not make any sense and this needs to be fought.

“We must support them, we must help them, we must be brave,” he stressed.

I’m in #bled 🇸🇮 together with more than 25 foreign ministers to discuss a range of issues of common European and global interest. First of all, the consequences of the 🇬🇧invasion 🇺🇦, how they develop, even taking into account the winter (appeal to 🇬🇷journalists). #BSF2022 pic.twitter.com/Fi1DygmAeD

— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) August 29, 2022

“If we want to keep our societies with us, in times of inflation and in times of growing inequality, we must act, otherwise we will see a populist reaction, and the whole political environment in Europe will change significantly,” continued the Greek Foreign Office. Minister.

“Public opinion rightly expects that the political leadership will give a rational answer and explain what it is doing, will be able to contribute to this, otherwise public opinion will change the leadership. This is the rule of democracy,” he said.

The head of the Foreign Ministry also mentioned the multifaceted challenges that exist in addition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine: a difficult neighbor, the crisis in Libya, Syria, the Sahel.

@NikosDendias: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine represents an existential challenge to our world and our values. If we don’t see this as a common problem, we won’t be able to solve it in a way that convinces societies across Europe, and perhaps even around the world, to stay on course.” pic.twitter.com/HAMcBiu6b1

— Bled Strategy Forum (@BledStratForum) August 29, 2022

Commenting on the statement by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Siarto that we should be grateful to Turkey for helping the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Mr. Dendias noted that this may be true, “but there is a big “but””.

“Turkey is a NATO member that has not imposed any of the economic sanctions against Russia,” he recalled. “Russia is using the Turkish economy as an exit from European sanctions. The problem is that if loopholes are allowed in the sanctions policy, they will not work or will work longer.”

Referring to the green transition, the Foreign Minister noted that it should not be seen as a threat to jobs and growth. “On the contrary, it is a creator of jobs and development,” he said.

And referring to his meeting today in Athens with US Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry, he noted that the No. 1 job-creating industry in the US is turbine engineers advocating a green transition.

“We can view the green transition as a positive development that creates a more inclusive, fair and sustainable economy,” he said. “We should not use the crisis in Ukraine as a way to ‘kill’ the green transition policy.”

“We need to make European politics even greener,” he said and stressed the need for Europe to move even faster.

“There is no choice: the climate crisis has come, we will not be able to survive if we do not cope with it,” he concluded.

Source: RES-IPE