ENGLISH SECTION
20/05/2025 | 14:18
Dendias: Europe’s rearmament should be done with countries that respect the EU’s framework of values
Current developments in Ukraine and a series of other important issues will dominate the Foreign Affairs Council with EU defence ministers taking place on Tuesday, in Brussels, National Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said upon his arrival at the meeting.
“As always, we will discuss the issue of Ukraine, but I would like to focus much more on the effort being made with the SAFE Regulation and Rearm Europe Plan, that is, the effort to rearm Europe, so that it has the ability to defend itself, to defend an area of democracy, human rights, and human protection,” he stated.
Dendias stressed that the rearmament of Europe should be done with countries that respect and embrace EU rules and values, sending a message that countries which threaten others and do not recognise EU member-states cannot participate. As he stressed, “in this context, we must be extremely careful and Greece has repeatedly emphasised that it is necessary for countries that respect and embrace the EU framework of values to participate in this project. It is not appropriate for countries that threaten other countries, including, indeed, EU member-states, that do not recognise other countries, including, indeed, EU member-states, and do not embrace the same rules of democracy and human rights, to participate indiscriminately in the European project. They cannot defend Europe if the enemy is within its walls.”
EU Defence Ministers are expected to discuss the current developments in Ukraine, in the presence of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and via videoconference with Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
Source: ANA – MPA
