N. KOTZIAS: Yesterday, for the first time, we had a meeting of the four Balkan countries that are members of the EU – that is, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece – to initiate closer cooperation on European issues, the European path of the Balkans. To formulate common proposals for major investment plans, for rail, energy and road networks. For joint efforts towards the accession of the Western Balkans to the EU. This is the first time this cooperation has been held in an organized manner among the four members states. And we agreed to continue, in a few days, at the Informal Council of Foreign Ministers, on 4 and 5 February, in Amsterdam, with a second meeting. The Secretaries General will meet in the meantime to take a better look at these issues. This is a new effort.
This morning we also launched another new effort. Side by side with the trilateral cooperation configurations we have launched with Egypt and Israel (Greece-Cyprus-Egypt and Greece-Cyprus Israel), this morning we initiated the trilateral Greece-Cyprus-Jordan cooperation, which will continue with a meeting of the Secretaries General in Cyprus, in one week, so that they can prepare a political meeting and, subsequently, a summit meeting. I must inform you that we have also had a request from the Palestinian Authority to shape a similar trilateral, and we have already agreed. That has been set in motion. And there is also a request from Lebanon, which we have yet to launch.
So we have expanded our cooperation and alliances in the Eastern Mediterranean, along with shaping, within the EU, a form of special Balkan cooperation. I think both are very important steps.
Afterwards, we had the meeting on the Ukraine crisis, with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, and a short meeting with the Foreign Minister of FYROM, during which we discussed our bilateral relations, which we have to look at together again. Nothing new arose from that meeting. We simply agreed that we need to continue working together on the confidence-building measures and the political dialogue we have initiated.
We also had two other bilateral meetings. One with Malta, ahead of its upcoming Presidency, because, as you know, it follows the Netherlands Presidency. And a meeting with Slovenia, which concerned the refugee crisis and the proposals Slovenia has made and set out in a text to the President of the Commission, Mr. Juncker, and which will also be addressed to Greece.
We also had a discussion on Syria and Iraq, in the Foreign Affairs Council. There, we insisted on the need for the war to end and, in particular, for money to be provided for refugees in the countries bordering on Syria, so that these refugees won’t move towards Europe and we can stop these influxes. The same view was expressed – along with a urgent request, I would say – by the Foreign Minister of Jordan, with whom we also had an official luncheon this afternoon.
We continued a short discussion on Ukraine, reaffirming the EU’s will to support the Minsk agreement.
And an ongoing discussion was completed today with regard to the text of conclusions on the Middle East, which supports the two-state solution in the Middle East, Palestine and Israel, and calls for the confronting of all forms of violence, whichever side it is used by. And it also obliges Israel to stipulate the origin of products; that is, that they aren’t from the settlements.
JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, a few days ago the President of the European Parliament, Mr. Schulz, predicted that we will see significant progress on the Cyprus issue in 2016.
N. KOTZIAS: I think that progress on international issues comes from hard work, and not from statements.
January 18, 2016