Ministry of Foreign Affairs announcement on the participation of Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias in the 2020 Afghanistan Conference in Geneva (24 November 2020)

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias participated today in the Geneva pledging videoconference for Afghanistan. In his remarks, he stressed that the conference was an important initiative of the international community in the context of the peace process, as well as for rebuilding the country.

He added that the start of the intra-Afghan peace negotiations is an important step towards sustainable peace in Afghanistan, which in turn will contribute to the stability of the wider region. He stressed that Greece supports the effort to consolidate democracy and, together with its European partners, stands ready to continue to support the peace process through EU initiatives.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs pointed to Greece’s systematic contribution to the peacekeeping missions in the country since 2002 and onwards. He also underscored that consolidating security and stability will most importantly allow for the return of Afghan refugees or asylum seekers, who have fled their country, stressing that this is a matter that should be handled jointly by all of the European countries. He concluded by noting the significant increase in recent years of the number of Afghan nationals arriving illegally in Greece via Turkey.

The full text of the speech is available here.

November 24, 2020