Joint statements of Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Kotzias and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, following their meeting (Athens, 7 September 2018)

N. KOTZIAS: Good morning. I would like again to welcome my dear friend Edgars, who accepted my invitation to visit Athens. As always, I thank the interpreters, thanks to whom there is diplomacy.

What we ascertained once again is that the South and the North of Europe have common interests. We are promoting the development of bilateral relations in all the sectors where we can, from security issues to culture and education.

We talked about the President’s upcoming visit to Riga, on 13 and 14 September. My counterpart met with our President, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, with whom, as is always the case, he had a very interesting conversation.

What we talked about was how to further develop the discussion and cooperation between the two sides, because we have many common interests: on security, regarding the future of the European Union, in the EU budget.

We think the North and South of Europe need a secure environment in which to develop. We want security in the Balkans and the Mediterranean, but we also want security for the Baltic countries, which have long traditions and strong links with the rest of Europe.

We talked about the migration issue. I thanked my colleague once again for the solidarity Latvia has shown and for his country’s meeting all the commitments it undertook. I am afraid this is an exception in Europe.

And of course, we also discussed the situation in today’s world, the role played by the great powers, the United States of America and Russia.

And we once again ascertained our feeling that we don’t want conflicts with third countries or within the West, because we are states whose security depends on and comes with peace, mutual understanding, a priority for diplomacy, shared values and shared visions.

I won’t add anything else so as to spare us time for the luncheon. I want to welcome Edgars once more and thank him for his hospitality in Riga. I want to thank him for his leadership in directing the proceedings of the Council of Ministers during the Latvian Presidency. Especially when we were discussing difficult issues like the ‘Macedonian’ issue. Thanks to the stance maintained by the Latvian Presidency at that time, we were able to find good and creative solutions.

I just want to make one comment, since I am speaking publicly. I said it this morning, too. FYROM was recognized as “Macedonia” by 145 countries, including the United States of America. That is why the United States of America now calls the country “Macedonia”. This recognition took place when Pasok and New Democracy governments were in power. So, it shows a weak sense of responsibility when they blame us today for this country’s still being called “Macedonia”. As soon as both parliaments ratify the Prespes Agreement, the international community and our allies will call the country “North Macedonia”. And this proves that the Prespes Agreement brings back the right name, rather than just plain “Macedonia”. They created that plain “Macedonia”. We didn’t. If I may say, it is a little hypocritical that their propaganda has come to this nonsense.

Thank you.

E. RINKEVICS: Thank you very much. Nikos, first of all, thank you very much for the great Greek hospitality, I would say, as usual, because I have visited Greece many times. But I always find the warmth of the hospitality really great.

And also thank you for the very good and very productive and constructive discussion we have had with you this morning, and also earlier with the President.

Let me just outline a couple of points, first of all on bilateral issues. We have found, and it may come as a surprise to some of you, that we are very much like-minded nations on many issues. Security, the future of Europe, and also some economic issues.

Some five or six years ago, one Greek newspaper called Latvia the fiscal paradigm in Europe. But we have found today that actually we share the same opinion: that we need to tackle inequality, that we need to tackle issues that are related to European growth, and that we need also to work together within Europe. And the next European budget is one of those tools that can help in this issue.

And from that point of view I am very happy to see that our position on the continuation of cohesion policy, investing more in education, is actually very, very close. And I hope that we will be able to continue in that way also during those debates and discussions we are going to have in Europe.

Second, let me also thank Greece for your support in the discussions we are having in NATO. We both live in very interesting neighbourhoods. And I think that we also understand each other better when it comes to debating security. The Greek aircrafts have been part of the NATO air policing mission over the Baltics. Our border guards are part of the Frontex mission here. And also, I think that better understanding comes through practical cooperation.

On regional issues, Nikos, thank you for all those nice words you’ve just said about our Presidency and all those discussions we had three years ago, in the process of trying to find a solution to the name issue. Regarding “North Macedonia” - I will call it - I can only say that we really admire the courage and leadership that you have shown so far in addressing this issue. We very much hope that this process will be completed by “North Macedonia” becoming both a NATO and European Union nation. That one of the issues will be solved, and also that there will be one more member state. And also, we believe that what you and also the government in Skopje have done is exemplary in a continent where there are so many unsolved issues. And I think the way you have been addressing this issue can also be a model for some other clountries, for some other disputes.

Finally, let me say that we also believe that the future of Europe, the discussion we are having – and on which we have also exchanged our views – should include small and medium countries. By all standards, we are a small country. We can call Greece a medium country. But still we believe that there is a need for effective decision-making where each vote counts, where each country counts. And of course, for us, the United Kingdom, which is leaving, the whole Brexit issue, the whole idea about deepening eurozone governance and broadening that governance, also addressing migration issues, addressing issues of enlargement are very important. And I very much look forward to continuing both bilateral contacts, but also, I think, and we also discussed this, we should have a more broad discussion. And there are three Baltic states – Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania – there are four EU member states here in this region: Greece, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. So, from that point of view I think that we will be also able to add the broader North-South dialogue, when now we have only the bilateral one.

So, thank you very much for your really great hospitality and also for the very good and inspiring and interesting discussion we just had.