Greek MOD on national sovereignty and the Lausanne Treaty

“Matters of national sovereignty cannot be the subject of a dialogue with any country,” National Defence Minister Nikos Dendias stressed on Monday, addressing a seminar on “The Lausanne Treaty: 100 years after its signing” held at the Officers’ Mess of the Armed Forces.

“Any discussion between Greece and Turkiye and any serious hope for a new chapter in our relations, 100 years after the signature of the Lausanne Treaty, must consider as absolutely given the provisions of the Lausanne Treaty and of the International Law of the Sea, in the framework of the principles of the UN charter,” Dendias said.

He noted that this was also the foundation of Greece’s clear stance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, stressing that dialogue between states has to have limits and take place within a certain framework of law.

Regarding the Lausanne Treaty, he said that “no one in the international community must be permitted to envision disputes or, to put it more politely, ‘updates’ of the Lausanne Treaty. Because, in reality, no one can be permitted to imagine or envision changes of borders, either in our wider region or anywhere else. And we must most clearly condemn all revisionist attitudes.”

Describing the treaty as a guarantee of territorial integrity and political stability for the region, he pointed out that it was an international agreement signed by several countries.