Thank you for your kind words of welcome.
Chairman, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure and honor for me to participate in this event, to be here in the hospitable city of Istanbul, in the framework of the special meeting of the BSEC Ministers of Foreign Affairs to precede the Summit of Heads of States and Governments for the celebration of the 20th jubilee of the organization.
This is my first trip abroad in my new capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Allow me to say that this is important because whatever is first in life, remains forever in the memory, and I hope it will bring me good luck in my endeavors. Moreover, I can say that if you want to discover the world, it is better to start from your neighborhood, and that is how I feel here, among all colleagues from the Black Sea region.
This trip comes at a critical point indeed for this important forum and cooperation among the wider Black Sea area countries. Our cooperation, ladies and gentlemen, is one more answer to the global economic crisis, and that is how we must perceive our role beyond what we try to do for our nations and for our neighborhood.
It is regrettable, allow me to say, that despite our efforts and the good job done by the Serbian Chairmanship, no common ground has been found in this Summit meeting, which would reflect our common work within the framework of the BSEC economic agenda for the future, as adopted by the Council in Belgrade on the 11th of this month. Nevertheless, our efforts must remain continuous and unabated.
My country is very concerned with the performance of BSEC as an organization of a purely economic character, and we must not abstain from that. It is up to us, to the Member-States, at all political levels, to safeguard and to render the operational level of the BSEC mechanism smooth, efficient and economically viable.
I can assure you that Greece will spare no efforts to contribute to that long term goal. At a time of a worldwide crisis, BSEC should be a meeting point where the countries of the region with the participation of international actors, especially the European Union, as well as of development mechanisms, set the path for actions that will give an added value to the numerous comparative advantages of the region, mainly in the fields of trade, investments, energy, environment, transports, tourism and culture for the benefit of all the peoples in and around it.
I would like to express my confidence in the success of this summit, and my gratitude to the Serbian Chairmanship in Office, as well as to the upcoming Turkish Chairmanship in Office for hosting this event. We all feel at home, being here in Istanbul, and I want to express my personal thanks to my good friend Ahmet Davutoglu for his efforts to contribute to our common goal to make this region, this part of the world an oasis of friendship, cooperation, peace, and stability.
Thank you very much for your attention.
June 26, 2012