Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Markos Bolaris, took part, as representative of the Greek Government, in the 52th Legal and Political Affairs Committee Session of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation (BSEC) Parliamentary Assembly, held on 16 and 17 October 2018, in Kavala.
"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen Members of Parliament and other members of national delegations,
It is with great joy that we welcome you, fellow deputies from the Parliaments of the member-states of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization to the 52nd Legal and Political Affairs Committee Session of the Parliamentary Assembly, which is taking place in the city of Kavala, in Makedonia, this beautiful region in the North Aegean.
The sea and the Black Sea region are our common point of reference. It unites our countries and their peoples. From the dawn of its history, Greece always had historical ties with the region. If I wanted to be more precise, I would say since the time of our mythology, since Medea and the Golden Fleece.
The geopolitical reality of the Black Sea region is made of a constantly changing and transforming international landscape. Given this interesting and challenging international context, the goal of the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly is to provide the basis for economic, commercial, social, political and cultural cooperation, inspired by friendship and dialogue.
Greece, a country firmly committed to the principles of peace, cooperation and democracy, follows an energetic multidimensional foreign policy, and constitutes a pillar of stability in the region, both as a member of international and regional bodies, like BSEC, and through the 16 newly formed regional - international partnerships, set up under our initiative, in the Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean region, over the past four years. We would like to reassert our strong commitment to the principles set out by the 1993 Founding Declaration of the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly.
The BSEC Parliamentary Assembly was created so that the parliaments of the member-states could promote their dialogue between each other, strengthen their cooperation in economic, social, cultural and political terms, and develop joint actions in a spirit of friendship, good neighbourliness, and mutual understanding and respect.
Peace, stability, security, growth and the prosperity of all peoples in the Black Sea region, were and are still the main objectives of the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly.
As one of the founding members of this initiative, Greece has significantly contributed to this day to its functioning. The Greek Parliament has always played a very active role in the work and activities of the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly.
Today’s session of the Committee on Legal and Political Affairs of the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly in Kavala represents another step forward in promoting cooperation at parliamentary level among the member countries of the Organization.
We await with great anticipation the debates to be held about civil society, workers, and labour rights, and more precisely about the role which the labour unions can and must play in the strengthening of economic cooperation in the Black Sea region, as well as in the proposals for the Special Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly.
We would like to thank Konstantinos Morfidis, the Greek representation, and the Local Authorities for extending their hospitality to us and perfectly organizing this event.
I wish to convey the best wishes of the country’s Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, and of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Kotzias, for the best possible success in your work, in this forum of peace, dialogue and cooperation of the Black Sea peoples."
October 19, 2018