N. KOTZIAS: I think we took a step forward in our cooperation with our northern neighbours. The meeting today and tomorrow of the Foreign and Interior Ministers of the four countries is yet another of our initiatives. You know that some here are also invited to Rhodes, in the second week of September, where we will host an international meeting with Arab countries on stability and security in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The main subject of our discussion was cross-border cooperation, not just on the refugee and migration issue, but also on issues that concern the programmes of the European Union, cooperation in the economic and cultural sectors, as well as in the sector of education.
I must note here that we talked about the initiatives we need to take with third states, as well as the stance maintained by the institutions of the European Union.
The conversation took place in a very good atmosphere. A number of proposals were heard. All of the sides agreed with the basic proposals we made.
We continue tomorrow with more specialized issues: police cooperation and the fight against terrorism. And we agreed at the end of today’s session that this meeting, structured in this way among the states that have common borders in the Balkans, will be repeated at regular intervals; that is, it will take on an institutional, permanent nature.
April 21, 2016