Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias made the following statement to the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) following the proceedings of Foreign Affairs Council (Brussels, 12 December):
N. KOTZIAS: At today's meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council we discussed issues concerning mainly Africa -- in particular we considered the Democratic Republic of Congo -- Syria and migration, while we also signed the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba.
The discussion of migration we had in the afternoon was of great interest. I think that everyone sees the need for a long-term policy on the Syrian problem; a policy that doesn't deal with just the negative repercussions -- migration, that is -- but is also aimed, above all, at the very source of the problems, which is the war. We also talked about ways and means to promote humanitarian cooperation. Regarding the signing of the agreement with Cuba, this took place within the framework of the de-escalation of this country's relations with the West.
JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, you also had a one-on-one conversation with your counterpart, the Cuban Minister, Mr. Parrilla.
N. KOTZIAS: Yes, we talked about bilateral cooperation. We talked about the political situation in Cuba and the relations with the country's diaspora. He invited me to visit, and will do so in the context of a scheduled visit to Cuba and Mexico.
December 13, 2016