- “Greece supports the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative with the aim of creating a European macroregion in 2014. We are backing this initiative because it is in line with Greece’s initiative for the Western Balkans and the relevant goals for 2014.”
- “Commissioner Damanaki raised some further issues that are important to Greece: first and foremost, the development of the pan-European networks, mainly in the Western Balkan region, road and rail transport, as well as energy networks. The Commissioner and I also discussed Greece’s proposal to the European Commission for utilization of Crete’s geographical position and infrastructure in the provision of humanitarian and development aid to Libya, when the implementation of a political solution has been launched; when the military operations have come to an end.”
- “I talked about the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative to the Greek MEPs. I also touched on issues I consider important, including the pan-European networks, regarding which it was agreed that there needs to be an intensive effort on the part of Greece, because if these networks are not sufficiently developed, Greece will essentially be the only non-island country cut off from the rest of the European Union, as a market for Greek products and as a European tourist destination. But the energy networks are also very important, and the Greek government puts particular emphasis on completing the ITGI, which will carry natural gas from Azerbaijan to Turkey, Greece and Italy.”
- “I also met with Commissioner Piebalgs, and we talked about the framework for the revision of Greek development cooperation. It is important to underscore here that despite the fact that, in terms of absolute sums, Greek development assistance has had to fall – within the framework of the country’s spending cuts – we have begun a major process for new legislation and very close cooperation with the OECD.”
May 25, 2011