Αl. PAPAIOANNOU: Good morning. Have a wonderful month. I’ll make a few opening remarks and then I’ m guessing you'll have your questions.
First of all, Western Balkans. As you saw, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dendias, has been on a tour of the Western Balkans since last week. He was in Tirana and Skopje last week. He was in Sarajevo yesterday, and then it’s Belgrade, Podgorica and Pristina.
His visit to Belgrade had been scheduled for tomorrow. But ιt was postponed due to scheduling restraints. It will take place within the next few days. You’ll see the relevant press release.
So, Podgorica is on June 7 and Pristina on June 8. And, of course, the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit in Thessaloniki on June 10 which will be preceded by the Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
I’d like to highlight three points regarding the messages that the Minister is conveying during his tour of the Balkans.
The first key message is our support for the European perspective and, more broadly, for the region's accession process. And he emphasises this, that regardless of international developments and Ukraine's application for membership in the European Union, the Western Balkans’ European perspective cannot be neglected.
As previously stated, two countries have already started accession negotiations, which are ongoing, and a decision was taken 1.5 years ago, to start accession negotiations with two others, Albania and North Macedonia.
The Minister’s message was that Greece and the European Union should continue to support this perspective. Greece, of course, will continue to offer technical assistance to these countries.
As you are aware, the Minister raises this issue on a regular basis in the EU Foreign Affairs Council. He has also held a number of side meetings, either in the framework of our Chairmanship-in Office Presidency of the South East European Cooperation Process or separately. If I am not mistaken, he invited Mr. Osmani, the Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, to a working breakfast last March.
On the other hand, and this is important, the Minister is also communicating to the region’s countries that "momentum should not be lost”, that these countries should retain their European course as their key perspective. We believe that this is to the benefit of the region as a whole, on the one hand, because it prevents the intrusion of other destabilising factors in the region. On the other hand, expanding the domain of security and stability into another especially significant region of Europe benefits the European Union as well.
And if you will allow me, I’d like to open a small parenthesis here, because unfortunately history teaches us a lot. When the Minister was in Sarajevo yesterday, he was given a tour at the end of his visit by the Mayor of Sarajevo and was shown the place, where the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated in 1914, which, as we all know, triggered the First World War. Well, so far for symbolism.
The second key message that the Minister is conveying, which was emphasized especially yesterday in Sarajevo, is that we are firmly opposed to any change of borders in the region and in general, as he has previously stated. Any talk of changing borders, or changing the current status quo, would have disastrous consequences, both in this region and beyond.
The third message conveyed by the Minister is that our country wishes to return to the region, especially now that the pandemic is in recession - because we have gone through, as all countries have unfortunately do so, a period of economic recession and a reduction in trade -, to give a boost in terms of economic - trade relations with these countries, as well as tourism development -another issue which is becoming increasingly important today- and cooperation in the energy sector.
As you are aware, Greece is essentially becoming a transit hub, due to the pipelines, the TAP and the interconnecting pipelines as well as the LNG gasification plants, first at Revithoussa and now with the new one to be built in Alexandroupolis. Construction has already begun.
In a nutshell, these are the main messages that the Minister has conveyed, is conveying and will continue to do so during his Western Balkans tour.
Now, the second issue which concerns us all: Türkiye. I won’t go into the details of the letter we sent to the UN last week, as you already know them. What we basically did, is to rebut the Turkish side’s arguments one by one, using solid legal arguments. We have witnessed an escalation in its rhetoric in recent days, clearly in response to our actions, including the letter.
As the Minister has repeatedly stressed, as has the Prime Minister, our foreign policy is based on certain values and principles, that is, respect for International Law and particularly the International Law of the Sea. And it is on the basis of these values and these principles that we shall continue to proceed.
We are not being carried away by this escalation in rhetoric or provocative actions. We always respond calmly, but we leave nothing unanswered and we will continue to defend our national interests.
This has been and remains our consistent position.
The third point I wanted to address, which I think I mentioned last Monday, was that the Armenian Foreign Minister had been scheduled to visit Athens. That visit was postponed, purely for scheduling reasons. Barring unforeseen circumstances, it will take place at the end of June. I’ll let you know when we have a firm date. We already have an approximate date.
In this regard, I would like to underline that our relations with Armenia have been excellent over the years; we have a lot of things in common. And I’d also like to recall Mr. Dendias’ visit to Yerevan in October 2020, in the midst of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, when we expressed our support to Armenia.
Lastly, on the issue of the seizure of two Greek-owned and Greek-flagged ships by the Iranian authorities last Friday, as far as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is concerned, we have taken all the steps at the diplomatic level.
You’ve also seen the statement we issued. A strong-worded demarche was made to the Iranian Ambassador. In this, among other things, we asked for the crews’ immediate release. From then on, demarches were made to the European Union, to the European External Action Service. At the same time, we informed the International Maritime Organization, the IMO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy with which we are in close cooperation and coordination –always but especially on this matter.
Also, as you may have seen, the Minister has had telephone conversations with his counterparts from the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia, during which, among other things, this issue was discussed.
Now, regarding the Minister’s schedule: well, tomorrow he will travel to Jordan, to the Dead Sea, where he will participate in the European Union-Jordan Association Council, which is co-chaired, of course, by the European Union and the Jordanian side.
On the one hand, the Minister's attendance demonstrates the importance we attach to our relations with that country. After all, he has met with his Jordanian counterpart, Mr. Safadi, on many occasions.
On the other hand, it demonstrates the importance we attach to the trip’s European dimension. If I am not mistaken, this is the first time that an Association Council between the European Union and a country in the region is being held outside Brussels; at least it hasn’t happened for several years now.
Afterwards, the Minister together with the other EU senior officials will attend a formal audience held by King Abdullah of Jordan. The Minister will then return to Athens.
On Friday, the Minister will hold several meetings with Ambassadors. Ι won’t go into detail; there’s no reason for that. What I do want to emphasize though is the Minister’s participation in the Hellenic Society of International Law conference “Current Challenges in International Legal Order: Convergences and Divergences” to be held in Athens on Friday, and the session "Ukraine: Developments and Consequences from the Perspective of International Law and International Policy". The Minister will deliver an address at the conference.
This will take place on Friday afternoon. Mr. Dendias is having some additional meetings here on Monday.
As I already stated, the Minister is travelling to Podgorica on Tuesday. He will have a meeting with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Krivokapić, he will also meet with Prime Minister Abazović, and with the President of the Parliament, Ms. Đurović, before returning to Athens.
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to travel to Pristina, where he will meet with the Kosovar President, Ms. Osmani-Sadriu and Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Development and Dialogue, Mr. Bislimi.
The Minister will then have contacts with international actors, with UNMIK, EULEX, the OSCE Office in Pristina. He will then meet with the Ministers of Education and Culture before having dinner with the Prime Minister, Mr. Kurti. His counterpart, Ms. Gërvalla-Schwarz will be travelling abroad at the time.
On Thursday, June 9, the Minister will have a meeting with the Vice-President of Palau, Ms. Sengebau-Senior, and then, on the same day, with his German counterpart, Ms. Annalena Baerbock, who will be visiting Athens. The full schedule will be available later on.
The meeting will start at approximately 12:00, so you can expect statements to the press at around 13:30.
On Friday the Minister will travel to Thessaloniki for the conclusion of our Chairmanship-in Office of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP). First of all, there is a meeting of Foreign Ministers in the morning. The Minister will then host a lunch for the Foreign Ministers and then, the Summit under the Prime Minister begins, but this does not fall within my competence. Then it is the weekend and Holy Spirit Monday. And afterwards, there will be our next briefing. So, let us save something for then.
Regarding the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Varvitsiotis’ schedule, I have some information for later on: On 21 June, he will attend the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg. On 22 June, the Alternate Minister will accompany the President of the Hellenic Republic to Strasbourg for the meeting of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly. On 23-24 June, he will accompany the Prime Minister to the ordinary Meeting of the European Council.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Fragogiannis, will travel to Astypalaea tomorrow, June 2, for the presentation of the latest developments in the project "Astypalaea, the first smart and sustainable island in the Mediterranean", in the presence of the Prime Minister.
Next week, on 7-9 June, he will pay a working visit to Israel, where he is expected to have bilateral contacts with his counterparts at the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy, as well as meetings with members of the business community and representatives from agencies and institutes to examine the prospects for cooperation in innovation and technology.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Katsaniotis is currently in Estonia, where he is accompanying the President of the Hellenic Republic, who is on an official visit. Today they will be travelling from Estonia to Latvia. On 4-5 June, Mr. Katsaniotis will travel to New York in order to attend and represent the government at the commemorative events organized by the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York marking the "Greek War of Independence 1821", which, as is known, had been postponed due to the pandemic.
Next week, on June 8-10, he is expected to accompany the President of the Hellenic Republic on her visit to Lithuania.
And with that, I am at your disposal for questions. Ms. Bali, the floor is yours.
Κ. BALI: If you don’t mind, dear colleagues, let me start with Iran. That is because various things have occurred.
You told us that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took all appropriate steps and that Mr. Dendias spoke with his counterparts from Israel, the United States, and Saudi Arabia. If I am not mistaken, the crisis we are dealing with is with Iran. Has there been any contact with the Foreign Minister of Iran?
Α. PAPAIOANNOU: The Minister spoke with his Iranian counterpart a few days ago.
K. BALI: Whatever. Was this before or after the crisis?
Α. PAPAIOANNOU: Before the crisis.
K. BALI: Okay, what about after the crisis?
Α. PAPAIOANNOU: We have taken all diplomatic actions following the incident, both in Athens and in Tehran. As you know, the Iranian ambassador was summoned here on Friday afternoon. And right now, at the diplomatic level, we are proceeding with all contacts, we are keeping everybody updated and, as I previously stated, we have already informed the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Union.
And what I want to underline is that the Foreign Ministers you mentioned have called our Minister on their own initiative and, of course, you must have seen the Press Releases they have issued.
K. BALI: So, they called him.
A.
PAPAIOANNOU. That’s all I know. I'm sorry, but I failed to mention that
earlier although it's a sine qua non: the Minister was also in close
coordination with the Cypriot Foreign Minister. Of course, I mentioned
the other three Ministers, but Mr. Dendias also contacted the Cypriot
Foreign Minister, Mr. Kasoulides, on this issue as well; because, as you
are aware, one of the crew members is a Cypriot citizen.
Ms. Ritofska, over to you and then Mr. Michos.
S. RISTOFSKA: I have a question on the same issue. Is there any reaction, any response to the demarche you made and what was the cause of the incident with the tankers?
Α. PAPAIOANNOU: We told you how we approached the situation and what we told the Iranian Ambassador. You can see the statement. It seems to me that we were quite clear about our position on this issue.
Beyond that, I can tell you that our top priority is the crews’ safety.
P. MICHOS: Have a good month! Panagiotis Michos, from TO VIMA newspaper.
Athens
sent a letter to the UN last week rebutting Türkiye's arguments, as you
mentioned. However, we are witnessing an escalation in the rhetoric of
the neighbouring country’s top officials. Meanwhile, the violations, the
overflights continue.
Moreover, we are seeing some areas experiencing bursts of migrant flows. In general, Ankara is maintaining a climate of tension. Are you worried that, beyond its rhetoric, it may attempt something on the ground, causing a further escalation in the relations between the two countries?
Thank you very much.
Α. PAPAIOANNOU: Thank you very much.
As you rightly said, there is an escalation in terms of rhetoric. At this point, you will allow me to open a parenthesis and say that we never respond on a personal level. We do not comment on specific individuals’ actions. We are talking about the actions of a country.
And I want to emphasize this. We do not have a personal confrontation, nor do we want to have one.
As you rightly observed, there is an escalation, both in terms of rhetoric and in terms of actions in various fields. As I said, we are responding in a prudent and calm way and on the basis of International Law. And, of course, we leave nothing to go unanswered, to put it simply.
In addition, as you know, and as the Prime Minister himself said, we are informing our counterparts, both our partners in the European Union and our allies, about these things.
As you saw, the Minister also raised this issue of the escalation of Türkiye’s provocative conduct both on the ground and in its rhetoric with his US counterpart, Mr. Blinken, inter alia, because they discussed the Balkans as well.
Please over to you.
M. KOURBELA: First of all, Mr. Spokesperson, I would like to ask if the Summit in Thessaloniki will be at the ministerial level.
Α. PAPAIOANNOU: They will start in the morning, sorry, do you have a second question? Pardon me. Is it something else or just this?
M. KOURBELA: The second question is about the Balkans and the Minister's visit.
Α. PAPAIOANNOU: Good, good. Well, the Summit will start with a meeting at the level of Foreign Ministers. The Minister will then host a working lunch for his counterparts, and then the Summit at the level of Heads of Government and Heads of State will begin in the afternoon.
M. KOURBELA: Let me recall that the entire process began with the adoption of the agenda in Thessaloniki, again, in July 2003, during Greece’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It was here at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the text for the enlargement process for these countries was drafted. It would be a good idea to remind them of that.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: The Thessaloniki agenda, which is exactly what we continue to pursue over time. Precisely, you are absolutely right. For the past twenty years Greece has been emphasizing the importance of the European and accession perspective of the Western Balkan countries in no uncertain terms.
M. KOURBELA: Yes. It was then that all the countries were classified as potential candidates for membership. This is a historical issue, I remind you.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Indeed.
M. KOURBELA: The good thing is that all subsequent governments kept emphasizing this, I remind you.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Precisely.
M. KOURBELA: Apart from enlargement - which is of great interest to the European Union, since the President of the European Council visited several Balkan countries last week - I would like to ask if the Minister, Mr. Dendias, has discussed cooperation regarding interconnectivity in the areas of both transport and energy.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Of course, you are absolutely right. Over the past twenty years, all governments have always emphasized this European perspective, and I apologize for coming back to the same issue, but it is extremely important.
What we are seeing in general, both in the European Union and in the countries of the region, or the whole region anyway, is a ‘fatigue’, to use the English word.
Fatigue among European Union member states on the issue of enlargement as well as among the candidate countries, which aspire to join the EU but believe that this prospect is still a long way off.
The strong message that we want to send to both sides is that we have to make one more effort and we have to overcome this fatigue, which is understandable, but it cannot be used as an excuse or a pretext to prevent the European Union from being interested in the accession perspective of the Western Balkans on the one hand, and the countries of the region from continuing on the path of reforms on the other hand.
And I understand how difficult it is and how it sometimes causes bitterness to some. There is no alternative. It's a one-way street.
Regarding interconnectivity: Of course the Minister has discussed it, with every country. On the one hand, energy interconnectivity is even more important at the current juncture. And what we are discussing is, of course, interconnecting pipelines that can connect Greece with the countries of the region and, by extension, with Central and Eastern Europe. That is the one thing; the other is transport, which is also very important.
There will certainly be interconnectivity in this area, in cooperation with the European Union. I am telling you that the Minister discussed both these issues with every country, they are always discussed.
A. TASOULI: I would like to ask if Türkiye has been invited to this Conference that will take place in Thessaloniki and the second question is if the High Level Cooperation Council between Greece and Türkiye is postponed indefinitely as Mr. Çavuşoğlu said in a television broadcast.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: On the second issue, I will refer you to what Mr. Çavuşoğlu said. There is currently nothing on the horizon. On the first issue, all the capitals are invited - in fact, Ankara held the Chairmanship-in-office of the SEECP until we took it over last summer - so it is participating and will be invited to the Summit, as will all member states. Of course, I anticipate you, if you ask me who will represent Türkiye, the answer is I do not know; at least not at this moment, I am sorry.
A. VOUDOURI: You anticipate me, too, and I apologize to the colleague who wanted to ask a question next. I believe a meeting had been scheduled for June 24 regarding the so-called “positive agenda” between Mr. Fragogiannis and the Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Will it go ahead as planned?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: “Scheduled” is one way of saying it.
A. VOUDOURI: Mr Fragogiannis had announced it, though.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Yes, I'll tell you what has happened. There was an oral agreement to hold this meeting, and through the fault of Türkiye, the Turkish side came and said they want to postpone this as well. Of course we agreed and we are waiting for the next date to be set.
But also, in conjunction with what Ms. Tasouli said, if I may…. We have stressed many times, and I will say it again, that we are in favour of a constructive dialogue with Türkiye on the basis of International Law, but not, of course, against a background of threats. And it is not us who ultimately decide that we do not want to talk. But we are talking on the basis of International Law.
What we are seeing right now, as Ms Tasouli said, is the statements by a high-ranking Turkish official. They themselves have said that they don't want the High Level Cooperation Council to be convened and, of course, the other thing is the postponement. These are examples of how the Turkish side itself is demonstrating that it does not want to have a dialogue with us - at least this is the message it is sending us.
And if you will excuse me, it is an oxymoron somehow when I see in various statements that “we want dialogue and Greece does not want it”. The evidence suggests otherwise, to put things in the right order.
Pardon me, Mr. Magiriadis has the floor.
A. MAGIRIADIS: Yes, Apostolos Magiriadis from SKAI. I come back to the issue of Iran. Yesterday a letter from Iran came to light, which in essence is addressed to Greece and says “leave the United States out of this and come and negotiate with us”. Is this something that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking into?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Look, I don't wish to comment on what the Iranian side says. I told you that from a diplomatic point of view we first had direct contact with the Iranian side. So as soon as the two ships were seized, we summoned the Iranian Ambassador here. He was summoned by the Secretary General. So that seems to me to speak for itself in terms of our approach.
And we also said that International Law, the International Law of the Sea and the rules of international navigation should be respected.
Mr. Argyrakis, please.
TH. ARGYRAKIS: You told us about our diplomatic protests we made to Iran. But I wanted to ask about the request made by the US side, which was apparently sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then forwarded to the Euboea Ιnvestigating Judge. Because it turned out that this ship was not on the sanctions list, it had changed its flag, it was owned by a Russian company that was not on the sanctions list and was flying the Iranian flag.
So, since this ship is not on the sanctions list and we hear, at least that's what's going around, that the US side has raised the issue of terrorism - that this is on the US terrorism lists and so on - and this was apparently forwarded to the Euboea Ιnvestigating Judge by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, what exactly is the US request that was made? Could you tell us? Because the Iranian side is complaining that since the ship was not on the sanctions list, you impounded a ship which is irrelevant and you are, in any case, according to the Iranian claims, bowing to US pressure. This is the one thing.
The other one concerns the German statements, or rather the German government spokesperson’s statements. On May 25 he made a statement sitting squarely on the fence, as it seems, regarding Greece and Türkiye, according to which he called on the Prime Minister and the Turkish President to sit down and resolve their differences, according to his phrasing.
The same statement was repeated by the Deputy Government Spokesperson a few days later, on May 30. The first statement, on May 25, was not reported anywhere in the Greek media. The second was reported, but it was really a confirmation of the first.
Since Ms. Baerbock will also be coming to Athens, has the Greek side invited the German Ambassador to explain this statement, which appears to maintain an equal distance? Because it is known that there is dissatisfaction in the Greek political leadership, in the Maximos Mansion and in the Government in general, with similar statements of equal distance made in the European Union. Did we ask the Germans to explain to us what they mean by this?
And one third question: Can you confirm that the violation that took place in Alexandroupolis, 2.5 nautical miles off the port, which is essentially a transit point for US forces, took place on May 18? Because the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was issued on May 20, which is two days later.
Since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' statement was issued on May 20, when was the Greek demarche made to the Turkish Ambassador? Was this done by summoning him here at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or by telephone?
Also, the Turkish side claims that Greek F16 fighter aircraft carried out overflights over Imbros. Did they provide evidence to substantiate these claims, or is it just lip service? Because usually, as we know, when there is a protest from one side, the other side responds and by doing so they have to provide substantiated evidence. Have you received such responses?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Thank you very much Mr. Argyrakis. No, that’s okay, I am at your disposal. Well, you raised three different issues.
On the first one you mentioned, first of all let me point out that you are referring to a different incident from the one I was talking about previously, in my introductory remarks.
I was talking about the two ships, the Greek ships that were seized by Iranian forces in the Gulf. You are referring to another incident which had previously seen the light of day, concerning a ship in Euboea. Well, on this issue I will tell you that, as you said, there was a request for judicial assistance from the US judicial authorities to the competent Greek authorities. So at this moment, pardon me, we are not competent to answer this question. It falls outside our competence.
With regard to Germany: we maintain particularly close contacts with German officials. The Prime Minister met yesterday with the German Chancellor. As I told you, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Baerbock, will be here in Athens next week. By the way, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will see the German Ambassador on Friday - I didn't think I should make a special mention of that, because he meets with Ambassadors almost every day.
Well, we are discussing all the issues with the German side in open and honest terms. We state our views. We inform them, as well as our other European partners, on the issues of Turkish unlawful conduct. And on some issues we agree and converge, on others we may not.
Now, regarding the issues you raised about the violation of Greek Airspace near Alexandroupolis. As you rightly said, it was within a distance of 2.5 nautical miles off the coast, from the city of Alexandroupolis.
First of all, you will allow me to say that this was an unprecedented provocation. It is the first time that there has been a violation in this area and so close to the coast. This does not mean that the other violations are acceptable, for God's sake, on the contrary. But it is yet another escalation in different area and this is, unfortunately, yet another action that runs counter to the effort to improve the climate.
It is an escalation of Turkish provocative conduct and, in this context, the Greek side made an emergency protest demarche and, in fact, because of the importance we wanted to attach to it, it was made upon instructions from the Minister by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish Ambassador.
As you rightly said, this demarche was made on Friday, May 20. It was then that the Turkish Ambassador was summoned. The reason why the demarche was made at that time is because it was decided at that time. And let me tell you, it's not in my competence to say when the violation occurred. You can ask the Ministry of National Defence about that. But I want to tell you one thing. When a violation occurs, that doesn't mean that all of the evidence is instantly available to us.
When a protest demarche is made by the Greek side, it is made on the basis of irrefutable evidence. We have the coordinates, we have the trajectory of the aircraft, we have everything. These things are not immediately available.
It is humanly impossible to do this. So, we cannot make a demarche within the next minute, hour or day after a violation occurs.
With regard to the claims alleging a violation carried out by Greece, we reject them as you know. They are entirely unfounded and false.
TH. ARGYRAKIS: (inaudible) Look, we, the correspondents accredited to the Ministry of National Defence receive a report on Turkish violations every afternoon.
There is no way the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not have had immediate knowledge on such a serious incident. In this regard, was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified on the same day by the Ministry of National Defence that such a serious violation had occurred?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: I didn’t say that. What I said is that in order to make the demarche we need to have all data, the coordinates, the trajectory etc. This is not done immediately. The demarche can only be made when we have all the exact data.
Mr. Ioannidis, please.
ST. IOANNIDES: Good morning. Recently Türkiye's Energy Minister, Fatih Donmez, announced that “the 4th floating drilling rig will be sailing at some point in the Eastern Mediterranean”, with many Turkish media outlets predicting that it will sail in areas delimited in the Turkish-Libyan “memorandum”, that is, south and east of Crete.
What I would like to ask you is about the current status of our relations with Libya. Do we have interlocutors there and are we prepared for such an eventuality, so that there is someone on the Libyan side who will support Greece should this scenario come true? Thank you.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Look, I'm not going to discuss hypothetical scenarios, because I, too, have read many media reports. About your question, of course we have contacts with the Libyan side. Moreover, as you know, we have also opened an Embassy a year ago, which is in regular contact with the competent Libyan authorities.
But this is true as far as our contacts with Libya are concerned, I do not link it to the first part of your question, because this is purely a hypothetical scenario, which I will not comment on.
Ms. Stamouli or Ms. Kratsi may pose their question.
CHR. KRATSI: Christina Kratsi, from ALPHA. Regarding the Thessaloniki Summit you said that you do not yet know at what level Türkiye will be represented. So, it has not responded positively that it will participate in the Summit?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: No, it is customary in these multilateral meetings to always have a delegation. There has never been a Summit without representation, at least in my career. I do not know at what level the representation will be. I can find out and, if there is confirmation, I will let you know. I will ask and I will come back to you if I have something.
N. STAMOULI: I would like to ask you about the decision we learned yesterday from the German Chancellor about the tanks, if you know when this decision was taken, as we first heard about it on June 12 from the Ukrainian Ambassador, but it had not been confirmed by the government; and whether the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was involved in the negotiations.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Pardon me, you mean the armoured vehicles. There was a relevant statement by the Ministry of National Defence yesterday. It was all in the statement and I will refer you to it.
Mr. Magiriadis, please.
A. MAGIRIADIS: Is there any prospect for exploratory talks to take place, or have they been frozen?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: It’s up to the Turkish side. The last round of exploratory talks took place in February 2022 in Athens, if I am not mistaken. Well, it's up to the Turkish side but...
If you will allow me, the exploratory talks are informal contacts on the only issue, the only outstanding issue we have with Türkiye, the delimitation of the continental shelf and the EEZ on the basis of international law.
A. MAGIRIADIS: Have we extended an invitation and not received a response?
A. PAPAIOANNOU: Us? We do not extend an invitation. Since at the moment when it is...
Ms Ristovska, please.
S.
RISTOVSKA: Following the Minister's visit to Albania and North
Macedonia, how optimistic is Athens that negotiations with the European
Union could start immediately for these two countries, which are...,
they are a package deal.
Thank you.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: We are making every effort - and we stress this, both to our European partners and to the countries of the region - and we believe, our position is, that these accession negotiations must start immediately and that there is no room for further delay.
Beyond that, as you know, there needs to be a unanimous decision by the European Union before they can begin, but our position was, is and will be clear; and we have stated this to all our interlocutors.
Yes, please.
E. KOLLIOPOULOU: Good morning, Kolliopoulou, from AFP News Agency.
I
would like to ask about the latter. Following the visit of the Minister
to North Macedonia, when do you believe, or when is it estimated that
there will be a ratification of these three pending Memoranda on the
Prespa Agreement? Thank you.
A. PAPAIOANNOU: If you will allow me, the Minister spoke about this in Parliament last Friday morning. What more can I say?
Okay, well, if you have no further questions, thank you very much for your time and take care.
June 1, 2022