Foreign Minister Droutsas to tour Middle East (17-20 October 2010)

Foreign Minister Droutsas to tour Middle East (17-20 October 2010)Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas will carry out a tour of the Middle East from 17 to 20 October, with stops in Jordan (17 Oct.), Israel and the Palestinian Territories (18 Oct.), Egypt (19 Oct.) and Lebanon (20 Oct.).

Mr. Droutsas is carrying out this tour at a critical time for the future of the Middle East peace process. Our country, a basic player in the Eastern Mediterranean region, consistently promotes the consolidation of a climate of stability and security in the region. For this reason, all of Foreign Minister Droutsas’s meetings will provide an opportunity for him to convey to his collocutors our country’s support for the efforts being made by the international community to achieve sustainable peace. Greece contributes to these efforts will all the means at its disposal, capitalizing on the reserves of trust created by the conscientious exercising of a foreign policy based on principles and values.

The upgrading of our country’s bilateral relations is an equally important facet of the Foreign Minister’s tour, and at every stop, Mr. Droutsas will discuss issues of bilateral interest. In Jordan, he will be received by King Abdullah II and meet with the Jordanian Prime Minister, Mr. Samir Rifai, and his Jordanian counterpart, Mr. Nasser Judeh, with whom he will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on political consultations between the two Foreign Ministries. In Israel, Mr. Droutsas will meet with President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. In the Palestinian Territories he will have talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki, and he will sign a Memorandum on transforming debt to development assistance. In Egypt, Mr. Droutsas is scheduled to meet with President Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, a Memorandum of Understanding on political consultations will also be signed. In Lebanon, the Foreign Minister will meet with President Michel Sleiman, Speaker of the House Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Ali Chami.

October 15, 2010