Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis opened a “window” for further economic support measures following the European Summit, addressing the energy shock and price surge resulting from the Middle East war. While the Prime Minister did not reveal his full plans, as the “27” EU members lack a unified approach to addressing the energy sector consequences, he noted that “there was a formulation that opens the door for greater flexibility in taking national and European measures.” He emphasized that the government is ready, within its fiscal capabilities, to address the impacts of fuel price increases and potentially electricity price rises.
As Kyriakos Mitsotakis highlighted, Europeans share the belief that the longer the conflict continues, the greater the economic consequences will be. Under this perspective, the government appears ready for intervention in the coming period, an issue that will obviously be discussed in meetings over the next few days with the participation of the economic team.
The Prime Minister appeared cautious in his assessments, given European reluctance for a common approach to measures, but emphasized that the government is ready within the framework of fiscal capabilities “to address the impacts from fuel price increases and potentially electricity price increases.”
Obviously, measures are drawn from the 2022 toolkit, but the scope of European support will determine the nature of the intervention, while Kyriakos Pierrakakis also presented a new toolkit. In any case, coordination with the Commission will be required regarding the details of the so-called “flexibility.” On the other hand, it appears that Europeans also don’t want to exhaust their firepower now, as it’s unclear what the continuation of this situation will be.
The Commission’s toolkit – “Key” duration of the emergency situation, for whether the response will be “national” or “European”
For the exercise that the Greek government is also conducting, the ball passes in the immediate future to the Commission based on the European Council conclusions text.
Based on this, the Commission is called “to present without delay a toolkit of targeted temporary measures to address recent increases in imported fossil fuel prices arising from the Middle East crisis.”
In the same spirit and beyond fossil fuels, the Commission is called “to urgently present targeted measures – for all components of electricity prices – for specific actions to reduce electricity prices and address excessive volatility in the short term, including energy-intensive sectors, taking into account different situations between member states.
In this context, the Commission is also called to work closely with member states in designing national temporary and targeted measures to mitigate significant impacts of fuels and related cost components on electricity generation costs, as well as the impact of all other cost components.”
Eurogroup President and Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, arriving at the Summit, assured that everyone in Europe has a sense of urgency about the developing situation, without currently being in the phase of taking European measures. He simultaneously pointed to the duration of this new situation, which will determine whether any responses will be primarily national or more European.
The moratorium and roadmap – “Cyprus support self-evident”
Mr. Mitsotakis revealed after the Summit the joint France-Greece intervention for a moratorium on strikes against energy installations in Gulf countries or Iran, as they trigger energy prices. It’s unclear whether this will be observed in this environment, but Athens and Paris are acting in coordination. In this environment, he also sent a message to the opposition and Turkey regarding the Patriots, saying that their activation was defensive and that Greece does not negotiate with anyone on matters of defensive force deployment.
Regarding the self-evident support for Cyprus, which Greece spearheaded, Mr. Mitsotakis, in coordination with Mr. Christodoulides, opened the discussion on how the activation of Article 42, paragraph 7 of the EU Treaty on common defense in case of attack could be activated more automatically. He did this within the Council as well, resulting in both the EU High Representative and other European leaders recognizing the need to develop an immediate response mechanism. Consequently, a roadmap should be drawn up within the coming months.
There is no unified Union position on this issue, but Cyprus is expected to put it up for discussion at the informal European Council to be held in Nicosia on April 23-24.
Full press conference of Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the Summit conclusion
Giannis Kantelis (SKAI): Mr. President, this morning in your statement when you arrived at the Council, you spoke about the need to support the most vulnerable, citizens, European consumers, both European and nationally. After this Summit, what should citizens in Greece expect, both at European and national level, if the government intends to take immediate additional measures?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: First of all, Mr. Kantelis, there was an extensive discussion around the economic impacts of this prolonged geopolitical crisis, this war currently unfolding in the Middle East.
I think it’s common ground that the more conflicts continue, the more negative the effects will be on the global, European, and consequently Greek economy.
There was a formulation in the European Council conclusions that opens the door for greater flexibility in taking measures, national but also European, to address this emergency crisis. At this moment I’m not ready to tell you anything more.
But I will repeat what I’ve said before: that the government is ready, within the framework of its fiscal capabilities, to address the impacts from fuel price increases and potentially electricity prices. But now is not the time to speak in greater detail about our thoughts in this direction.
Maria Psara (STAR): Mr. President, also upon your entry, you raised the issue of actual activation of the European Union’s mutual assistance clause.
Did you raise this in the room with the leaders? If so, what reception did it have? What steps need to be taken in the European Union for there to be an activation mechanism, if and when a member state comes under attack? And how soon can we expect this?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: First of all, Ms. Psara, I consider extremely positive the fact that in the case of the attack Cyprus received, many European countries, with Greece first, rushed to assist Cyprus, offering aviation support so that Cyprus feels completely secure.
As the Cypriot President said, it essentially constituted a de facto, if not de jure activation of Article 42, paragraph 7, the European Union’s mutual assistance clause.
I would say that both the European Commission President and Ms. Kallas recognized, along with our colleagues, the need to move quickly some steps further. To chart, that is, a clear roadmap, with a horizon of months not years, so we can have a clear operational plan in case this clause needs to be activated, what steps we would take depending on the type of threat.
I consider this a very significant achievement for our homeland and for Cyprus, as I spoke knowingly about the need, within the framework of strategic autonomy, to give content and depth to this very important mutual assistance clause, which however had rather “fallen by the wayside” in public discourse.
Cyprus’s ordeal is an opportunity for both Greece and Cyprus to intensively advance this discussion in a direction that undoubtedly serves national interests.
Sofia Fasoulaki (MEGA): Good evening, Mr. President. Today opposition parties criticized the government for putting Greece deeper into war, because of the interception of two Iranian missiles by Patriots in Saudi Arabia. Does this move ultimately put Greece in the war?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Ms. Fasoulaki, the Patriots are in Saudi Arabia by KYSEA decision from 2021, within the framework of a broader effort to protect critical infrastructure related to fuel supply security.
And today’s interception constituted a strictly defensive action, which falls within the framework of this agreement we have with Saudi Arabia.
Consequently, no one should draw further conclusions, but only recognize that Greek Armed Forces proved their operational readiness in practice, in a complex exercise.
I emphasize again, however, that it was a purely defensive action, within the framework of an agreement made with Saudi Arabia, which is also a strategic partner of our country for several years.
And to those wondering “well, how does Greece benefit from such an initiative?”, I’ll say one thing: if those refineries, a critical Saudi Arabian refinery had actually been hit, then you could be absolutely certain that oil prices today would be much higher than they ultimately are. Because protecting critical energy infrastructure on both sides should be a top priority right now.
Greece and France led at the European Council on the need to impress a proposal for a moratorium that would exclude any strike against energy installations, whether they are in Iran or in Gulf countries.
Georgios Papakonstantinou (ERT): Good evening, Mr. President. I’ll stay with the long “spear” of the Greek Armed Forces. You’ll know that the Patriot battery movement to Karpathos has provoked reactions from Turkey.
Indeed, according to reports in the neighboring country, Turkey has sent letters to NATO, European Union and United States, in an attempt to raise the issue internationally. How do you comment on these actions?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: These claims are legally unfounded, but I would say they are completely untimely, if one considers the broader geopolitical context.
One word only on this: Greece does not negotiate with anyone the deployment of its defense forces at an operational level.
Maria Tadeo (Euronews): Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. Just a very brief question. You always said the economy is very important to you. Competitiveness is very important to you. In the conclusions it’s not at all clear what exactly the leaders are asking for. You say “appropriate measures.” What measures do you want to see in the energy sector? Would you say what we’re experiencing is an energy crisis or just an energy shock?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: For now, it’s an energy shock and we must make every possible effort to ensure it doesn’t develop into a long-term energy crisis. Certainly, the best way to defuse the situation would be for hostilities to stop as soon as possible, for the Strait of Hormuz to open and for normal functioning of energy supply chains to be restored.
We must, however, be aware that we need a specific toolkit, both at national and European level, which will allow us to address issues concerning high energy prices that make life difficult for consumers and our businesses.
And I would say this crisis adds to the discussion we’re having about European competitiveness. We know that even before the war, energy prices in Europe were excessively high. This issue had been set as a main priority by the European Council some time ago and the crisis adds new urgency to addressing challenges that already existed but have obviously increased since the recent war outbreak.
Jessica Parker (BBC News): Mr. Prime Minister, we’re investigating allegations that Greek authorities are using migrants to push back other migrants toward Turkey at Evros. Are you aware of these allegations? Will you investigate them?
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I have no knowledge of these claims, but I would like to point out something that is reflected in today’s conclusions: that the European Union as a whole will not repeat the mistakes it made in 2015.
Greece protects its borders. It’s my obligation to ensure that European Union borders are protected. I will not apologize for these policies.
And I would like to inform you that all European Council members, through the conclusions, have made absolutely clear that we will not allow mass influx of migrants and refugees into the European Union and that we will not repeat the mistakes of 2015. Thank you.
