Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis meets with the German Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth (Berlin, 30 January 2020)

Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis met in Berlin today with the German Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, in a very positive climate. The two officials had the opportunity to discuss all of the issues the two states are dealing with at the current time.

The talks focused on Turkey’s provocative stance and illegal actions in the Southeastern Mediterranean and Libya, the new Multiannual Financial Framework, EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, the migration issue, rule of law, and the common values shared by the two countries.

Subsequently, the two countries’ delegations held expanded talks regarding the debate on the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027.

During the discussion, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that the negotiations are very difficult and have been made even more difficult by Great Britain's withdrawal and the loss of resources the UK has long contributed to the EU Budget, underscoring the need to find a compromise solution that addresses the concerns of all member states. Mr. Varvitsiotis stated that “Greece lost 25% of its GDP during the crisis, while, in contrast, the European GDP increased sharply, resulting in the creation of a large growth gap.” He added that “Europe needs a modern and fair budget with a strong Cohesion Policy that takes into account the economic crisis that impacted specific countries.”

Finally, the Alternate Minister pointed to the need for reform of the European budget’s own-resources system. “It is time we thought differently and creatively about sustainable funding of the budget, establishing new resources and sources of financing so that the European Union can have a budget that responds to the challenges of the future and the needs of European citizens.”