The Greek delegation to NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly issued a joint statement on Wednesday explaining the reasons behind its walkout from the Assembly in a rare gesture of anger and protest.
The incident took place on Tuesday during the proceedings of the joint meeting of both the Committee on Civil Affairs, Defense and Security, and NATO’s Finance and Security Committee in Brussels.
All the MPs from the three main Greek political parties who were there belong to the New Democracy (ND), SYRIZA and KINAL parties and all left the NATO proceedings as a group.
The Greek representatives’ joint statement after the fact noted ”Our delegation left the room in protest, denouncing the stance of the President.”
It all began when the Greek MPs, during their own individual speeches, attempted to inform the rest of the Assembly about the recent illegal deal signed between Ankara and the Tripoli-based government of Libya.
”During the works of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Brussels, the Greek Delegation emphasized the issue of the Turkey-Libya Agreement, which violates international law and the sovereign rights of Greece,” the statement says.
”On one hand, we sought answers on the issue of the violation of the sovereign rights of Greece and on the other hand, we sought to inform our fellow NATO members about Turkey’s illegal actions and the risks of ignition (of tensions) they cause in the region,” the Greek delegation noted.
However, the Greek Parliamentarians claim that the man who presided over the meeting kept interrupting them.
”The President-in-Office interrupted our speeches and questions systematically, blocking the apposition of our position,” the announcement declared.
”After finishing our positions, even though we were interrupted, our delegation left,” the statement concluded.
The Greek MPs who left the NAtO meeting as a gesture of protest were Marietta Giannakou from ND, Manoussos Voloudakis, Theodora Tzakri, and Marios Katsis from SYRIZA, and Andreas Loverdos from the KINAL party.
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