Foreign Minister Stavros Dimas was in Rome on Monday, 20 February 2012, to attend the 16th Mediterranean Forum (FOROMED) meeting.
This informal meeting brought together representatives from Egypt, Algeria, France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Turkey and Tunisia, while representatives of the EU and the Arab League were also in attendance.
During the plenary, there was a review of the situation in Mediterranean countries, and the participants had the opportunity to reaffirm their political support for the countries of North Africa and the process of their transition to democracy. At the same time, however, everyone recognized the urgent need for economic support for these countries, whether through European programmes or bilateral support, so that tangible results might be achieved. There was also a discussion of the immigration pressures that have been provoked by the developments in North Africa.
At the working luncheon, the discussion focussed on the situation in Syria, regarding which there was joint condemnation of the government’s use of violence against the civilian population, as well as support for the efforts of the UN and the Arab League to confront the crisis and protect civilians. The Ministers also expressed their support for the setting up of the “Group of friends of the Syrian people,” welcoming the Group’s first meeting on 24 February, in Tunis.
Mr. Dimas had bilateral meetings on the margins of the proceedings with his counterparts from Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, which provided the opportunity for a discussion of bilateral and regional issues.
In his meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, there was confirmation of the strong ties of friendship and mutual respect between the Greek and Egyptian peoples, and bilateral economic cooperation issues were examined. It was also agreed that there would be further bilateral consultations on the technocratic level for the delimitation of the maritime zones between Greece and Egypt.
Libyan Foreign Minister Ashour Saad Ben Khaial expressed the warm gratitude of the Libyan people for the humanitarian assistance provided by Greece during the conflict, as well as his country’s interest in developing economic relations with Greece. Also discussed was the possibility of Libya’s supplying Greece with oil as production reaches pre-crisis levels.
In the meeting with Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem, the discussion focussed on the potential for strengthening bilateral relations and the prospect of holding a Greek-Tunisian-Libyan trilateral economic and trade forum.
Finally, Mr. Dimas’s talks with Italian Foreign Minister Terzi provided the opportunity for an exchange of views on bilateral and European issues, developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and EU enlargement in the Balkans, while the very good cooperation between the two countries was confirmed.
February 21, 2012