Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos had three one-on-one meetings on the margins of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels:
1. With FYROM Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki. Messrs. Venizelos and Poposki reviewed issues of common interest, within the framework of the well-known positions of both sides.
2. With Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle, with whom he looked at issues of special interest to Greece, including matters concerning the Western Balkans, with special reference to the FYROM issue, Serbia and Kosovo, and issues concerning Cyprus and Turkey’s European perspective.
3. With the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, E. Mammadyarov, with whom he had the opportunity to underscore the great political significance of the new TAP pipeline, which, in addition to everything else, leads to a de facto upgrading of Greek-Azerbaijani bilateral economic and political relations and is a parameter that must be borne very seriously in mind in the development of the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood, in which Azerbaijan and four other countries are participating. The Greek EU Presidency will continue the relevant eastern partnership initiatives. Mr. Venizelos invited Mr. Mammadyarov to pay an official visit to Athens, in reciprocation of Mr. Avramopoulos’s recent visit to Azerbaijan.
Within the framework of the Foreign Affairs Council, the EU Foreign Ministers had a teleconference with the U.S. Secretary of State, who presented the results of his effort to restart the Middle East peace process and the new phase of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which will be held in the United States. Mr. Venizelos participated in the teleconference, during which many aspects of the U.S. initiative and the framework within which the new talks are to take place were clarified.
At the working luncheon, there was a detailed discussion of the Syria issue, and particularly of the humanitarian facet of the crisis, which is of direct interest to Greece, given the increasing pressure on Athens to transport persons due to the wartime conditions in Syria. The discussion pointed up the need for a more precise assessment of the situation on the ground.
The morning session of the Foreign Affairs Council decided unanimously on the addition of the military arm of Hezbollah to the list of terrorist organizations, though with an express and categorical statement that ensures the political and institutional unity of Lebanon, a matter that, in Greece’s view, is extremely critical to stability in the wider Middle East region. On the practical side, this statement ensures the continued presence of the UN peacekeeping mission, as well as continued humanitarian and economic assistance for Lebanon from the EU and its member states.
Also of particular importance was the FAC decision on the situation in Egypt; a decision that sends a very clear and seminal message to the transitional authorities of Egypt, who are shouldering the task of restoring democratic institutions and processes, and of ensuring the participation of all the political and social forces of Egypt, with no exclusions, in the reconstruction of a large and critical country that impacts all the situations in the wider Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean region.
July 22, 2013