Main opposition PASOK-Movement for Change leader Nikos Androulakis, speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, clarified that his party supports the strengthening of Greece's defence and security, but without this impacting social policy and the country's cohesion.
"Any decline in the welfare state and democratic achievements will be another victory for the revisionists and authoritarian leaders - perhaps the most insidious and most important," said the PASOK-KINAL leader and added: "For us, there is no dilemma between defence and policy for cohesion. Or between defence policy and the welfare state. This is disastrous."
Pointing out the international uncertainty and the events caused by the new international policy of Donald Trump and the US, especially in Europe, Androulakis condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and noted that the White Paper on European Defence, proposed by the European Commission, was made up of timid and inadequate steps.
Specifically regarding Turkiye's role, he stressed that "the European Union must decisively close the door to third countries that have revisionist orientations like Turkiye, regarding the possibility of cooperation with their companies. European taxpayer money cannot be permitted to finance Turkiye's defence industry."
"Our position is clear: The path towards unified defence must be accompanied by new permanent resources, without cutting back cohesion policy or social policy," he added.
Androulakis said that strength does not only mean a strong army but also a convincing response to the demographic issue, increasing trust in institutions and reducing social inequalities, while supporting border regions, especially Thrace and the remote islands.
"We must stop being mere consumers of defence equipment with the money of the Greek people and transform ourselves as quickly as possible into producers and co-producers, giving a strong boost to the domestic defence industry," he underlined.
"We are not handing out any blank check. Where this is technically possible, the country must have a participation rate that is even greater than what you propose. No involvement of Turkiye in the common European defence and uniform rules on arms exports", concluded Androulakis.