Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, N. Kotzias, following the Quadrilateral Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania (New York, 22.09.2017)

N. KOTZIAS: We had a very interesting meeting of the four south-east European Union members; that is, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. We talked about carrying out a joint trip to Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, to contribute to the promotion of the European course of all the Western Balkan states. This is a collaboration that we initiated last year, like the cooperation we have with FYROM, Bulgaria and Albania, with whom we will be meeting again on 5 and 6 October, in Thessaloniki.

JOURNALIST: Minister, what are the priorities of the cooperation between the EU member states of the Balkans?

N. KOTZIAS: The priority is, first, to assist the Western Balkans; second, the European orientation and role of these states in this region; and third, at this time, energy issues. We also prepared for a meeting we will be having with the Visegrad countries (4+4). This is another idea we put forward, and we are very pleased that it will be realised towards the end of November.