Minister of Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis’ statement to ERT tv channel (New York, 21.09.2023)

The presence of the Greek delegation at the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations is multifaceted, wishing, first and foremost, to promote Greece’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the 2025-26 term. In this regard, we have engaged in numerous multilateral, regional and bilateral meetings, exactly to promote the Greek positions and the Greek candidacy.

First of all, we have had a series of meetings with high-ranking officials of international fora and organisations, including, of course, the UN Secretary-General, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the President of the UN General Assembly.

We also had a number of very important meetings at the regional level. We had the opportunity to participate in a quadrilateral meeting with Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia on the Western Balkans. We also attended a meeting for the countries of South-Eastern Europe. Greece has always been at the forefront in activating all possible mechanisms for the EU accession of the Western Balkan countries. An accession process that should proceed for the benefit and prosperity of the region, of Europe and the peoples of South-Eastern European countries.

Additionally, on a bilateral level, we had the opportunity to meet with delegations from about 20 countries from Europe, Africa, Asia and Americas. These are very significant collaborations that we wish to develop further. The multilateralism of foreign policy requires these meetings to take place in order to develop bilateral relations, and also foster strong diplomatic alliances and grounds to uphold national interests.

I would like to particularly note that we have had the opportunity to develop significant trilateral formats. There’s the well-known trilateral cooperation with Cyprus and Egypt, and respectively with Jordan. We place great emphasis on the Middle East, where the Greek presence is always exceptionally strong. We actively participated in the high-level meeting on the Middle East Peace Process; we also participated in the fora concerning the Gulf.

And of course, as you are aware, we had a meeting with the Turkish delegation at the highest possible level. The leaders of the two countries had the opportunity to discuss, establish the roadmap for the next steps, and advance the discussion at the level of political dialogue, the positive agenda and the Confidence Building Measures. Ahead of December 7, when the High-Level Cooperation Council will be held in Thessaloniki, we anticipate positive results, concrete deliverables for the development of bilateral relations, regional prosperity in the region and broader cooperation.

JOURNALIST: Have you had contacts with Greek Cypriot and American Cypriot organisations? What is the sense you got from your contacts with Diaspora Greeks?

G. GERAPETRITIS: The Greek diaspora stands as our country’s greatest tool of soft power. We wish to be close to the Greek diaspora, tap into it and bring it closer to our motherland, ensuring continuous cooperation. To this end, we are developing all those tools with which Diaspora Greeks will feel closer to their homeland.

Last Monday, I had the opportunity to personally meet with all the Diaspora organizations in the United States. There, I had the opportunity to address both the Greek and Cypriot Diaspora, in order to strengthen these ties. The Prime Minister also had the opportunity to meet with the Greek Diaspora. It is extremely important not only to maintain and strengthen ties with our Diaspora, but also to ensure that Diaspora Greeks feel that their homeland is constantly by their side.