- 17/10/2024
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly Committees on Democracy and Security and the Political Committee of which I am a member, held a Joint visit to Athens and Chania, Crete. the visit took place from Sunday 13 October to 16 October 2024.
We visited Athens and at meetings in the Hellenic Parliament we heard from the Ministers of Defence, Migration and Foreign Affaires on security and political developments on the Southern flank and on the evolving migration and refugee challenges.
Our group then travelled to Chania, Crete.
Our first meting was at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre (NMIOTC).
We heard a robust speech from Dora Bakoyannis MP Chair of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affiars. ( pictured right).
At the Souda Naval Base we had an overview of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence Centre of Excellence and the Operational Training Centre.
The final stop was a walking tour of the facilities at the US Naval Base in Souda Bay.
The final day we met at the Orthodox Academy of Crete where we heard from the president of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping who said that Article 87 UN Conflict of the Seas guarantees security and safety. However there is not the right level of governance at sea and it depends on the flag state , the ship wo carries the flag of state but not all ships do. the rule of law is difficult to establish at sea. Greece has a large shipping fleet, 5,500 ships. three quarters of EU trade is transported by sea. The International Maritime organisation IMO is the body that overseas shipping activities at sea.
The Hellenic Coast Guard Regional command gave us an overview of the challenges they face with migrants. Below are the graphs which show a breakdown of statistics complied by the Coastguards.
