The consensus is that at this moment our country has a major opportunity that has been created by the new defence agreement with France, which recently was quite rightly ratified in Parliament.

This opportunity does not concern only the breadth of our deterrent force. It is also significant in terms of the role that Greece can play in the Eastern Mediterranean.

There are three reasons for that.

Firstly, Greece is a pole of stability in the region and is a member of both NATO and the EU.

Secondly, the new fluidity in geopolitical balances shapes countries’ new strategies. France, for example, will undoubtedly play an enormous role in the EU. Hence, the deeper and more organic nature of relations with France is a move in the right direction.

Thirdly, a stable country with credible force and alliances is a secure country and open to development. Power depends on economic growth and economic growth is a precondition for power.

The agreement reached by the government expedites the above developments and the results will be palpable, as it creates new diplomatic and economic capital.

In the framework of shifting balances, Greece emerges with greater readiness, greater power, and greater durability in confronting provocations.

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