Greece-Bulgaria-Romania Trilateral Meeting – Joint Statements of Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Vasil Georgiev and State Secretary for Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Daniela Grigore Gitman (Athens, 12.05.2022)
“The revival of the trilateral cooperation between Greece, Bulgaria and Romania within the European Union enables us to shape common positions on shared problems, emphasizing their importance for the EU”.
This was stressed by Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, in the joint statements with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Vasil Georgiev and State Secretary for Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Daniela Grigore Gitman, following their trilateral meeting which was held in Athens, for the first time in many years. Mr. Varvitsiotis added that there will be a new meeting held in Bulgaria soon.
In particular, the Alternate Minister stated that the three Ministers expressed their commitment to support EU Enlargement towards the Western Balkans. “We need more Europe, we need the geographical integration of the EU in our region”, he said. In addition, he voiced the support of Greece to Bulgaria’s and Romania’s request to join the Schengen area.
Answering a question about the Turkish provocative conduct at the time when the Mutual Defence Cooperation Agreement between Greece and the USA is being voted in Parliament, Mr. Varvitsiotis underlined that this agreement, as well as the defence cooperation agreement with France, strengthen the country's geopolitical imprint, upgrade its international role and protect our vital interests.
Turkey, he noted, has chosen to follow the path of unilateral provocations and disregard for International Law and is facing both the Greek resistance to its revisionist stance and the reaction of all of our country’s partners and friends, pointing to the statements made by the Ministers of Bulgaria and Romania, that International Law is the cornerstone of good neighbourliness and stability in the region.
The trilateral meeting also focused on the energy crisis in Europe. According to the Alternate Minister, energy security and the interconnection of the member states is a key priority. In this context, the three countries will come forward with a common position at the next European Council, arguing that each member state should have the flexibility to choose the appropriate tools and make the relevant interventions in their own internal energy market, in order to alleviate the burden on their citizens, based on their own energy needs and their own energy mix.
In addition, they agreed on the need to differentiate EU’s energy sources of supply through the exploitation of the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean reserves and confirmed their commitment to energy cooperation through the interconnection of networks and pipelines. “In fact, we don't want to face a dilemma between peace or gas prices, cheap energy or green energy. We want to have both cheap and green energy resources obtained by peaceful means”, Mr. Varvitsiotis said characteristically.
Finally, he noted that the three countries expressed their solidarity with Ukraine in practical terms, by sending equipment for the Ukrainians’ defence against the illegal and unacceptable invasion of President Putin and agreed to join their forces to rebuild the country.
May 12, 2022