Within the framework of the Foreign Ministry’s initiatives to confront stereotypes and improve Greece’s international image, Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos has scheduled a series of visits, giving priority to countries where public opinion was circumspect during the discussions in the EU on overcoming the crisis.
Mr. Avramopoulos had meetings today in Tallinn, Estonia, with the country’s political and state leadership. This visit is of great importance given that it is the first official bilateral visit of a Greek foreign minister to this Baltic country.
Mr. Avramopoulos’s meetings started early in the morning at the Estonian Parliament, where he met with the President of the Estonian Parliament, Ene Ergma, with whom he had a sincere exchange of views on bilateral, European and regional issues, with emphasis on issues bearing on the economic crisis and how to confront it on both a practical and institutional level, focusing in particular on the contribution of new technologies to the effort in question.
The Foreign Minister was also received by Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, with whom he had an in-depth discussion, in a particularly warm climate, of issues of special interest to Greece and Estonia. In a spirit of mutual understanding and trust, they discussed national issues that top the two countries’ foreign policy agendas, ascertaining a common perspective on all of the issues touched upon.
Mr. Avramopoulos then met with his Estonian counterpart, Urmas Paet, with whom he covered all the most important issues on the bilateral agenda, as well as issues of particular interest with a European and regional dimension. They ascertained that the level of Greek-Estonian bilateral relations is very good, and that the European edifice must be forged with “more” Europe so that the EU can emerge stronger from the economic crisis.
Following his meeting with Foreign Minister Paet, Mr. Avramopoulos delivered a lecture to Estonian Foreign Ministry personnel, pointing up the joint effort of the European partners to handle the crisis. In his remarks, Mr. Avramopoulos stressed, among other things, that the political center of gravity in Europe has shifted to the east, creating new opportunities and potential for countries like Greece and Estonia, which are situated on the eastern periphery of the European Union. Responding to questions from journalists and diplomats, he set out the major reforms under way in Greece today; reforms thanks to which Greece and Europe as a whole will be able to get past the economic crisis.
Finally, Foreign Minister Avramopoulos visited the head of the Orthodox Church of Estonian, Metropolitan Stephanos of Tallinn and All Estonia, whom he congratulated on his important pastoral work.
February 1, 2013