Dear Minister, dear Ilia, I welcome you to Athens today with great pleasure.
Your visit here today demonstrates our two countries' willingness to enhance their bilateral relations in all areas of cooperation, always in a climate of mutual trust, respect, and understanding.
Our relations have a long history, but I believe that the exchange of high-level visits will strengthen them even further. That is why, I intend, following your kind invitation, to visit you in Tbilisi in the very near future.
Last year we celebrated 30 years since the establishment of our diplomatic relations, and I believe that by signing the memorandum of cooperation in the field of diplomatic training today, we have laid another stone in the edifice of our cooperation. Because I believe that when our young diplomats communicate with each other, a common understanding is created for both the region and the principles that we both serve.
Greece has maintained warm feelings for Georgia from the very first moment of its independence. We have assisted as much as we could from the very beginning.
The bridge of our relations is the Greek presence, the Greek minority in Georgia, and the Georgian diaspora in Greece, which contributes to our economy. They are both a component of the bridge between our countries.
Today, we had the opportunity to discuss a number of international and regional issues. First of all, the situation following the Russian invasion in Ukraine, developments in the Caucasus region, developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, and both our countries' commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter.
We had the opportunity to agree on what is obvious, namely that any forms of revisionism, the use of violence, and the changing of borders of which Georgia is a victim - cannot be acceptable.
Of course, we extensively discussed Georgia's relations with NATO, as well as Georgia's relations with our common European home, the European Union.
We have a special interest in the Caucasus region. Indeed, Ambassador Dimitrios Karabalis has recently been appointed as head of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia. You will host him for the next few years.
I also told you - and I will say it again publicly - that we support your European perspective and would take tangible actions to promote it. Of course, you are well aware that the accession perspective requires concrete reforms.
I also mentioned the importance of our eastern partners - including Georgia – being aligned with the decisions and statements of the European Union in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. This is extremely important for both the European Union and Greece.
We also had the opportunity to touch upon our trade relations and the need to intensify them, the cooperation between our enterprises, and our mutual investment.
We discussed the (4th) Joint Interministerial Committee on Economic and Trade Relations, which should be convened as soon as possible, as well as our long-delayed political consultations.
Now that you are in Athens, I’m taking the opportunity to thank you warmly for your support in our campaign to be elected to the United Nations Security Council. I am pleased to inform you that Greece will also support Georgia for its election to the same Council for the 2040-2041 term.
I’d also like to congratulate you on your election to the Human Rights Council as your term now begins. We supported you and that is why we are very happy about your success. And I’d like to thank you for Georgia's clear commitment, here in Athens today, to support us in our campaign to be elected to the Human Rights Council, where we have never been elected before.
Concluding, I’d like to make a reference to something that I’d like you to know: Greece and the Greek Government, the Mitsotakis Government, are absolutely committed to assisting the people and society of Türkiye, during this difficult time that the neighboring country is going through, following the huge catastrophic earthquakes.
As I informed you in our conversation, I had the opportunity to visit Türkiye, where my friend, Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu welcomed me with great warmth. We will spare no effort to help not just the people of Türkiye, but also the people of Syria. We still have great difficulties there, seeing how much help can reach them. We are talking with the Patriarch of Antioch to find a way so that the aid we are trying to send to our fellow human beings who are being tested, gets received.
I believe it is a universal human duty for all of us to stand together in times of suffering and need. And any differences that exist can be addressed at a later point.
Thank you very much for your presence in Athens today. I’m very happy about it. And I reiterate my promise to visit Georgia very, very soon to enhance our cooperation, particularly in Georgia’s effort to join our European family, an effort which we support.
Thank you very much for your presence here today.
February 15, 2023