Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Markos Bolaris, received, today, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Greece, Mr Maslov. The latter referred to the successful initiatives between Greece and Russia in recent years to further their cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism, as exemplified by the Greece-Russia Common Commemorative Year (2016) which culminated with the visit of Russian President Putin to our country, and the current year of tourism, which coincides with the 190th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
On the occasion of a recent proposal by the President of the Greek Parliament, Mr Voutsis, during a conference of the Hellenic Parliament on the Greek-Russian year of tourism, the Russian Ambassador proposed, in view of the planned visit of the Greek Prime Minister, Mr Tsipras, to his country, to consider the possibility of carrying out a new initiative to strengthen the cooperation of the two countries in another sector, such as culture or education.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, responded positively to Mr Maslov’s proposal, and assured him that he will explore, with the co-competent directorates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, appropriate themes for the launching of a joint and new initiative with Russia, that would be immediately implementable in cooperation with any co-competent Ministries, and inform the Prime Minister accordingly.
Regarding current events in international ecclesiastical affairs, the Russian Ambassador handed to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Russian Patriarchate’s announcement concerning the latest developments on the question of the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Christian Church in Ukraine, seeking the understanding of the Greek government for the concern of the Russian side about the dangerous consequences in Ukraine.
October 31, 2018