Mr. Minister, what do you expect of your current visit to Azerbaijan?
First of all, it is a great pleasure to be back in the vibrant city of Baku. I was here as Greece’s Tourism Minister in 2005 and it is great to see first hand the major strides – the real success story – you have achieved in so many sectors in recent years.
It is also a great pleasure to be meeting again with my colleague Mr. Mammadyarov, with whom I have already met in New York and Munich. I will also be meeting again with my old friend Abulfas Garayev, the Minister of Culture and Tourism.
I will also have the honor of meeting with your country’s leadership, so I believe that this visit is an excellent opportunity to further promote our bilateral relations – relations of friendship, trust and mutual respect – which are already at a high level. At the same time, we will continue our very important bilateral political dialogue, which we have been carrying out for many years now, to the benefit of both our peoples.
One of the items on the agenda for my visit is Greece’s upcoming EU Presidency in the first half of 2014. I will be briefing my counterpart, Foreign Minister Mammadyarov, on our priorities and we very much want to use our Presidency to further promote Azerbaijan’s relations with the EU.
What documents and agreements should be signed to strengthen bilateral partnership?
The bilateral institutional framework Greece and Azerbaijan have created is already considerable. Among the agreements we have already signed and ratified are those on Protection of Investments and Avoidance of Double Taxation which will not only provide a strong foundation for our economic cooperation but will also facilitate the realization of mutual investments.
Of course, there are always areas where we still need to make progress and we will work in that direction. But I think our emphasis right now should be on substantial implementation of the ample agreements that are already in place.
Greece totally supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Recently, the OSCE Minsk Group has shown no results on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Do you believe the EU can be a better mediator in this issue?
The peaceful resolution of disputes, with respect for international law and national sovereignty, is a fundamental principle of Greek foreign policy, and it is also a European principle.
Greece is also a participating state in the OSCE, of course, and we fully support the efforts of the Minsk Group co-chairmen towards a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, with the objective of finding a solution that is acceptable to the parties concerned.
What is most important is the will, the political will, of the involved parties to negotiate a solution. If the political will is there, dialogue and negotiation works.
How do you see the perspective of bilateral energy cooperation?
Greece is one of the closest EU member states to Azerbaijan. It is one of the closest, most easily accessible gateways for Azerbaijan to the European markets. We want to work together with you and Azerbaijan is already exporting gas to Greece through Turkey, so we are already cooperating bilaterally in the energy sector.
We want to expand this cooperation. Specifically, we want to do this through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), a project for a dedicated pipeline that would carry Azerbaijan’s natural gas to European markets via Greece, Albania and Italy – also supplying Southeast European markets along the way.
The decision on this pipeline is up to the companies now. Greece and its regional partners on this project – Italy and Albania – already have a trilateral agreement in place, guaranteeing our full support for the TAP project. This agreement is already ratified by the Hellenic Parliament. It is now up to the Shah Deniz Consortium to opt for the TAP, which is a financially viable project that would be a win-win decision both for Greece and Azerbaijan and for our bilateral relations, our economies, and our peoples.
Are there any interesting tourism projects to be implemented in Azerbaijan?
I am well aware that the government of Azerbaijan has spared no effort in recent years to develop tourism. And Azerbaijan has a great deal to offer its visitors: natural beauty, impressive architecture, a vibrant culture with a proud history. Greece, on the other hand, already has extensive experience with tourism, because we started developing this sector – our second largest sector, after shipping – over 60 years ago.
Azerbaijan and Greece are ideally poised to expand their cooperation on tourism. A month from now, on May 28, Aegean Airlines is launching its direct flight from Athens to Baku, and transport – direct flights – are vital to increasing tourist flows both ways. At the same time, the Consular Section of the Greek Embassy here in Baku is under instructions to make the visa application process as easy as possible for the visitors from Azerbaijan that we look forward to welcoming in Greece this summer.
And during my meeting with the Tourism Minister, my friend Mr. Garayev, I will reaffirm Greece’s desire to continue and expand our cooperation on Tourism, which we began eight years ago.
What is your assessment of the current social and economic situation in Greece? What experience did you get from the crisis?
I am happy to be able to respond that Greece is on its way to recovery. There are indications that 2013 will be the last year of the recession, and that we will be seeing growth in 2014.
But how did we get here? We had the assistance and solidarity of our international and European partners, our partners in the Eurozone. We are implementing an extensive economic adjustment programme that has included not only austerity measures, but also far-reaching tax and structural reforms.
In the end, though, the Greek people have done the most to reverse this crisis. They have shouldered a heavy burden and, in the midst of the crisis, given a strong mandate to the current coalition government; a mandate to ensure our place in the Eurozone – which we have already done – and to make Greece a competitive force in the Global economy.
What experience have we gained? To be frank, I don’t think there is any aspect of life in Greece that has not been affected by the crisis. Everyone, regardless of their walk of life, has been forced to reassess their priorities, allegiances, attitudes – their future. It has been a difficult journey, through this process though we are laying the foundation for a stronger and more competitive Greece.
As the Foreign Minister, I have obviously dealt with the crisis as it impacts our relations with our partners and neighbours and as it impacts our geopolitical environment. We are pursuing cooperation with all of our neighbours. We are encouraging our neighbours in Southeast Europe to recommit to their European perspective. We are backing all initiatives aimed at reducing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean – our southern neighbourhood. So Greece remains a stable and stabilizing force in its wider neighbourhood. If anything, the crisis has made it more imperative than ever for us to play this role.
April 28, 2013