[Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters]
France remains committed to its close relationship with Greece and Cyprus and supports the Greece-Cyprus electrical interconnection project (GSI), which aims to connect the electricity grids of Greece and Cyprus, and eventually stretch to Israel, French Minister for European Affairs, Benjamin Haddad, said in an interview with Kathimerini. He said France supports Greece’s energy independence, noting, “we’re always going to be there with our Greek partners.”
Haddad also noted that Athens and Paris are aligned politically on their view for the European perspective of the Western Balkans.
There were several visits from French ministers these days. How can the Greek-French relationship evolve?
We have a strategic partnership. We are in a turning point in European History, where we need to take much more ownership in security and defence and we see Greece as key player in this respect. President Macron and prime minister Mitsotakis have a very good personal relationship, had the minister of Armed Forces is here in Greece at the beginning of this week. As we look both at the security of Ukraine, stability and security at the Eastern Mediterranean and of course at the Transatlantic outlook, Greece is a core partner for France.
Would you say that Greece and France are aligned when it comes to the regional challenges?
I think very much so, yes. When you look at all the issues: In terms of security and the economic future of Europe, reducing our dependence on tech, investing in AI, in Quantum, to make sure that the big European actors of tomorrow integrate in the Single Market, the Capital Markets Union, high expectations for a budget union. We also agree on the European future of the Western Balkans. We don’t want to have grey zones in Europe that Russia could exploit to sow instability and chaos in our continent. In all these issues we must talk with Greece on a regular basis. In the last few days I visited Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and we need to keep them connected to the enlargement process. It has of course to be merit-based, with deep reform and it is something we clearly agree with Greece. But we cannot leave an area close to the heart of Europe, closer than Ukraine if you look at the map.
Are we in a mature phase for some of these countries to proceed to full membership?
We support this. It is a necessity for geopolitical stability, to expand values and the rule of law and an economic opportunity to deepen the Single Market. It’s a demanding process when it comes to reforming and anchoring rule of law, independent judiciary, reform, single market. We ‘re there to accompany these countries. France sends a lot of technical experts to the different administrations in these countries. But you see that countries like Albania and Montenegro could make progress by opening and closing clusters. It has gained a new sense of urgency since the full-scale invasion in Ukraine.
Can Europe support Ukraine while trying to Rearm itself? Even though Greece and France agree in general in the Rearmament process, not all countries of the EU are on board.
The Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom, sovereignty, democracy, and the security of Europeans. If you look at the Russian cyberattacks, the interference, the sabotage, the constant intimidations, the fact that Russia basically has an open aim to revise the post war security architecture borders, that’s something that should concern us. We want peace, lasting and durable, like the Ukrainians. How do we do that. Russia is not taking negotiations seriously. We’ve had rounds of negotiations since President Zelenskyy agreed for a 30 day truce, and Russia has not yet responded. Then we had a truce on energy infrastructure. And Russia again delays. So the only way to achieve peace is by strengthening Ukraine’s hand and maximizing pressure politically and militarily on Russia. And there’s another step. How do we make sure that a ceasefire is not just a break for Russia to rearm and re-attack. This means that we deter Russia. How do we do this? By strengthening Ukraine. This is what we organize with UK and the willing partners. And then we must take our responsibility at some point maybe by being present on the ground with security guarantees with reassurance forces. In the end of the day this is our own responsibility. This is why we work closely with Greece and other European partners in enhancing our own abilities. We have major steps with financing instruments by the European Commission for our military. Let’s make sure it supports European defence industry to give long term visibility to our companies, so they can increase their production in the long run. And also because we need to keep the control of the use of exports and know how. Making sure that the funding that we’ll have supports European industry is key to our sovereignty. So these are the discussion we are having on a European level, but I sense a form of urgency and unity in Europe, because of the broader geopolitical situation.
France had recently an agreement with Denmark. Can Europe at some point safeguard its own interests, if the US withdraws from the continent?
France is an active member of NATO and our objective is to work with the US. President Macron talks with President Trump on a regular basis and have a respectful relationship. But we also know what Americans have been telling us for years, both Democrats and Republicans, that Asia is more of a priority and rivalry of US-China is at it’s core, more protectionism and that they want more defence spending by the Europeans. So it’s clear that we also must invest in our strategic identity, to reduce our strategic dependencies. When you look at key areas, cyber, drones, strategic enablers, satellites etc we have to invest. So we must do both: maintain as close as possible relationship with the US and invest in our strategic autonomy. I think the two are very compatible.
We have all that discussion about the electrical connection between Greece and Cyprus. And my question would be if Greece and France are aligned in the need for this project to proceed?
As you know we work with Greece and Cyprus and our partners on this. We are very committed to the energy connectivity of the region, also for the energy independence and the strategic autonomy of Europe. We’ve been very clear and vocal on the maritime sovereignty of both Greece and Cyprus in the past. And we are very committed to the independence of our partners and that’s a constant discussion with Greece. We’re always going to be there with our Greek partners.