– 17th Economist Cyprus Summit: “Cementing Lasting Stability in the Eastern Mediterranean: Building Strategic Partnerships”

Let me start by thanking the organisers for their kind invitation to participate in this, high level Summit. The title of this session could not be more relevant, as it captures in a nutshell the logic behind the strategy followed the last decade or so by Greece and Cyprus.

The current geopolitical situation in our region is particularly diffi- cult and in recent years Eastern Mediterranean has become the stage of an aggressive escalating revisionist Turkish policy which has now come to threaten the national sovereignty of both coun- tries.

Taking things from the beginning, there is no doubt that interna- tional community as well as Greece and Cyprus are trying to avoid confrontation and they are working to establish security and stabil- ity making any effort to cement this stability in a lasting form.

In order to describe these stability establishing efforts, we should try and see the wider perspective. Western democracies as well as international organizations such as NATO or the EU, have three pillars in their strategies to face critical situations. They are the so- called three (3) Ds from the initials of the respective English words. This is not a personal invention or opinion. It is an international mnemonic rule for the three pillars which are: Deterrence – De- fense – Dialogue.

Deterrence and Defence are two pillars which, if powerful enough, will eventually lead the parties to the third, to a dialogue procedure and this will eventually contribute to stability. We are all aware of the efforts of both the Greek and Cypriot governments to reinforce and strengthen air force and naval capabilities. Behind this is the effort to re-establish security and stability based on a restoration of the military balance in the area, to respond to the Turkish aggressive and revisionist policy. Revisionist states like Turkey with a continuous hard power projection policy, prefer to defend their in- terests through zero sum instead of win-win solutions which are in- ternationally accepted. The need to maintain and reinforce national military capabilities necessary to prevent crises and deal with es- calating threats, combined of course with intense and successful diplomatic activity, led Greece to purchase or improve air and na- val platforms from France and the US. They were necessary for our deterrence and defence. It also resulted into both countries signing various Agreements with neighbouring countries, partners or allies, most notably the Defence Cooperation Agreements Greece signed with France and the USA.

I don’t want to be mistaken; military capabilities no matter how strong cannot do the work alone in our modern world. They cannot solve political problems Western democracies understand perfectly well that there are no military solutions to political and geopolitical problems. And the situation in Eastern Mediterranean is a geopolit- ically critical situation. Nevertheless, military balance has a serious contribution to security and stability, in a geopolitical ecosystem.

The third pillar, Dialogue, is the necessary component of any strat- egy and is relevant in all phases, with mandatory continuity over time. Dialogue includes not only point to point leadership contacts or strategic communication but also all kinds of negotiations among the parts involved. It also includes the unwavering com- mitment of the countries to International Law and towards Interna- tional Organizations, Courts and Institutions.
Dialogue and all these solution finding procedures will not be initi- ated vis a vis revisionist states if Deterrence and Defence are not successfully present in the scene, based on the necessary military capabilities. Those who think otherwise, they are wrong. The ex- istence of communication channels is absolutely necessary for the effective control of the situation and the avoidance of unpredictable situations and surprises. Denial of dialogue is incompatible with western political values and western political culture, and such a
position or action is completely unacceptable to the western politi- cal ecosystem regardless of its effectiveness or nature. As ex- plained, it can be a simple line of communication, personal con- tacts, exploratory or crucial contacts and finally negotiations for solving problems. Dialogue in any form must always exist and is absolutely necessary if we want our strategy and the actions that stem from it to be internationally accepted and ultimately really ef- fective. Greece and Cyprus remain always open to all forms of po- litical and fruitful dialogue.

But this is only one part of the efforts for stability in the area. There are some coordinated and well-orchestrated initiatives of both Greece and Cyprus, as they set an example in how sustainable, in other words, lasting, stability should be built. They include not only actions in the defence domain as already explained but also ac- tions in parallel with and complementary to those in the energy domain. These networking efforts are the cementing glue and Greece and Cyprus are using this cementing glue in a number of trilateral and multilateral cooperation schemes. These schemes engage nations with different political, religious, historical or cultur- al backgrounds but with aligned interests in the Eastern Mediterra- nean and elsewhere. Nations such as Israel, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Lebanon, which share common understand- ing of the fundamentals of politics and economy and navigate in the international arena with international law as their compass.

Greece has recently demonstrated pragmatism and genuine re- spect for international law and, to be more specific, for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. UNCLOS should be the docu- ment governing relationships in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Exclusive Economic Zone agreements with Italy and Egypt demonstrate beyond any doubt, not only Greek willingness to make concessions in order to achieve mutually beneficial results, but also Greece’s respect to the other parties’ lawful and logical arguments as well as the country’s ability to examine them with ob- jectiveness, staying away from maximalistic approaches. The For- eign Ministers of Greece and Cyprus previously explained to this

Summit all these political efforts for successful international agreements in details. The US and EU support to all these plans, both overtly and covertly, underlines their importance for the west- ern world.
In a perfect world, every nation in the Eastern Mediterranean would see the obvious advantages. They would seek to participate in this kind of cooperative schemes, offering their competitive edge. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all countries in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece and Cyprus together with other like-minded countries provide the necessary networking that will cement the stability and security in an effort to provide wealth divi- dend to their own people. That would be the case for nations that care for their people. That would be the case for law abiding na- tions like us and our allies and partners. Continuous military power projections and threats by one of our NATO Allies, Turkey, are not compatible with these peaceful policies, and are not promoting se- curity and stability in the region.

I cannot think of a stronger foundation for stability than the securi- ty, well-being and prosperity of the people of neighboring, like- minded, peace oriented but proud and sovereign nations, with cul- tural and trade relations measured in millennia. This is what ce- ments stability in the long run. This is what we are trying to achieve, and Turkey has to understand it and willingly participate in these efforts, in a clear, civilized and cooperative manner. I remain optimistic that in the future they will, and they will be very welcomed if they decide to play the game based on lawful, peace- ful and politically accepted terms

General (ret.) Mikhail Kostarakos
Former Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff Former Chairman of the European Union Military Committee