ThinkTankWeekly

A Conversation With Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis of Greece

CFR | 2026-02-22 | diplomacy

Topics: China, Climate, Europe, Indo-Pacific, Middle East, NATO, Nuclear, Russia, Trade, Ukraine, United States

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English Summary

Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis argued that Europe is in a transition period requiring both stronger strategic autonomy and continued transatlantic cohesion, rather than a rupture with the United States or NATO. He supported higher European defense burden-sharing, warned that a sustainable Ukraine settlement must be fair and sovereignty-based, and maintained confidence that NATO Article 5 remains credible despite current political volatility. On the Middle East, he backed a UN-anchored Gaza stabilization framework, welcomed coordination with the proposed Board of Peace only within a limited Gaza mandate, and stressed that disarming Hamas must be paired with governance and education to prevent renewed extremism. He also framed Greece as a strategic energy and logistics hub and linked EU trade deals with India and Mercosur to a wider strategy of diversification, implying policymakers should reduce overreliance risks while preserving rules-based multilateral institutions.

中文摘要

希臘外交部長喬治・耶拉佩特里蒂斯(George Gerapetritis)主張,歐洲正處於轉型期,需要同時強化戰略自主並維持跨大西洋團結,而非與美國或北約決裂。他支持提高歐洲在防務上的負擔分擔,警告烏克蘭的可持續解決方案必須建立在公平與主權原則之上,並認為儘管當前政治局勢波動,北約《第五條》仍具可信度。就中東議題而言,他支持以聯合國為錨點的加薩穩定框架,並表示僅在加薩有限授權範圍內歡迎與擬議中的「和平委員會」協調;他同時強調,解除哈瑪斯武裝必須與治理與教育措施並行,才能防止極端主義再起。他也將希臘定位為戰略能源與物流樞紐,並把歐盟與印度及南方共同市場(Mercosur)的貿易協議連結至更廣泛的多元化戰略,意指政策制定者應在維護以規則為基礎的多邊制度之際,降低過度依賴風險。

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