Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis visits Poland (14-16 January 2020)

During his visit to Poland, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis conveyed a proposal/invitation to the Polish side and, by extension, to the Visegrad countries to bring their proposals to the debate taking place within the EU on the new migration management mechanism.

During his stay in Warsaw, Mr. Varvitsiotis met with his counterpart the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Konrad Szymanski. “Come with your proposals. We are ready to discuss them,” the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed in his statements, adding that “we discuss proposals even when we disagree with them.” Earlier, Mr. Varvitsiotis had met with the President, Stansilav Tyszka, and members of the Polish Parliament’s European Affairs Committee.

In addition to the migration issue, the agenda for the talks included enlargement issues, the EU budget, and achieving an agreement on climate neutrality, a matter Poland is sensitive to due to its dependence on lignite. Mr. Varvitsiotis informed the Polish side that the Greek government is moving to end Greece’s use of lignite by 2028 and that it is pursuing its inclusion in the Just Transition Mechanism.

In the context of his meetings, Mr. Varvitsiotis had the opportunity to brief the Polish side on the Turkey-Tripoli agreement, noting that, in the face of Turkish provocations, Greece is producing stability in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region, in contrast with Turkey, which is playing a destabilising role.

On Tuesday evening, Mr. Varvitsiotis met with Greek entrepreneurs active in Poland, and on Thursday, 16 January, he will visit Auschwitz to pay his respects to the victims of the Holocaust.