At our Meeting today, we discussed with my colleagues of the BSEC Organization on the prospects of a more intensive cooperation among us, but also on ways of making the Organization more effective by enhancing its capacity to develop projects. We value BSEC as a genuine, home-grown platform of dialogue and cooperation between the countries in the broader Black Sea region. We are, therefore, pleased to see BSEC evolving over time into a trusted and sought-after interlocutor, a point of reference for other regional and international organizations.
Greece assumed the Chairmanship of the BSEC on 1st July. Under the motto “Black Sea – Green Energy – Blue Growth, we tried to implement a comprehensive calendar of events so as to qualitatively enhance our cooperation in a number of key areas (Energy, Transport, Tourism etc). We wanted, in tune with the global trend, to put emphasis on the need for our policies and cooperation to be conducted in a sustainable and environment-friendly manner.
During our Chairmanship, we also focused on addressing issues related to the streamlining of the overall function of BSEC. We have made important steps forward, but of course there still remain things to be done.
At this point, I would like to congratulate the Permanent Secretariat of the BSEC (PERMIS) and its General Secretary Ambassador Christides for their commitment in increasing, at all costs, the operationality but also the visibility of the Organization. We also feel the need to thank the Secretariat for an excellent cooperation with our Chairmanship over the past 6 months.
I am confident that under the incoming Romanian Chairmanship-in-Office, further progress will be made and, why not, final decisions on pending issues will be reached. It goes without saying that we will be ready to assist our Romanian colleagues in any way we can in that direction. I wish to our Romanian Colleague every success and all the best for their Chairmanship.
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MODERATOR: Thank you very much, and we will now take a few questions. I would like your questions to concern BSEC issues.
REPORTER: Given that BSEC is a regional cooperation organization and Turkey is a BSEC member, I would like to ask whether there was an exchange of views on the Turkey-Libya memorandum and Turkey’s provocations, and whether there was any comment on the recent developments in the European Council.
N. DENDIAS: I must remind you that this is an economic organization, and as a result we did not discuss issues concerning the memoranda that were signed by the Tripoli government and Turkey.
We discussed only issues of direct concern to the Organization. Of course, this in no way means that the Greek side is backing down from its ongoing, permanent and constant insistence on the invalidity of these particular texts and especially the text that, very inventively, to say the least, removes Crete and the other Greek islands from the map, ignoring the legal consequences of their existence.
With regard to the European Council Conclusions, I would like to say that Greece is very satisfied – I expressed this satisfaction in Brussels, on Monday – and I think the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, shares this position. But, given that I have here, to my right and left, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of two friendly countries and member states of the European Union – apart from the Balkan dimension of our three countries – I would like to thank them both, the Bulgarian Minister and the Romanian Minister, for the support their countries, along with the other European countries, have given Greece in the context of the European Council.
The European family is an ongoing process, a unique historical endeavour. And every time this family shows practical solidarity with a member state, it deepens this endeavour and prove its success.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much.
December 13, 2019