ATHENS

International and European security architecture failed in responding to contemporary challenges, noted Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis on Friday.

Speaking at an international summit on political economy at the northern port city of Thessaloniki, he maintained that Europe failed to develop a strong, meaningful position in response to the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

According to Gerapetritis, this state of affairs is closely related to two factors.

The first factor is related to the decision-making process in the EU, he said, adding: “We all agree in Europe about what we should do and what the result is. We all agree that hostility should stop. We all agree that hostages should be released. And it was an appalling and dreadful picture of what we saw a couple of days ago with the six dead hostages. We all agree that we should end up forming a Palestinian state. Yet, we cannot come up with the vehicle to achieve it.”

“The second reason we sometimes fail to reach some meaningful result is that Europe has not yet received the level of strategic autonomy that we need to achieve. I think the next Parliament is going to be crucial. And it's of utmost importance,” Gerapetritis added.

“What I'm saying is that Europe is now at a crossroads. And I think there is a major fork in the road now. We need to make some very strong decisions. We must be very powerful because we have some difficult choices ahead,” he emphasized.​​​​​​​