Statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, to Greek correspondents following his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo (Washington, 17 July 2019)

N. DENDIAS: I am pleased that one of my first meetings as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new Greek government, the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was with the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. We all know that the close relations between Greece and the United States date back in time, but this relationship is continuously expanding and deepening.

We discussed the Strategic Dialogue between our two countries, and ways to deepen this Dialogue and extend it to other issues. I also invited Mr Pompeo to visit Athens for the second meeting of this Dialogue. The U.S. side will favorably examine this proposal and this visit is quite likely to occur in the autumn.

We also had the opportunity to exchange views on various issues, the most important one being - and always will be - the issue of Turkish aggression, both towards Cyprus, the sovereignty and sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus, and towards Greece’s sovereign rights in the wider region of the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, we noted the positive developments in the issues pertaining to energy and to the cooperation between Cyprus and Israel in the context of this trilateral relationship, as well as cooperation with Egypt.

Finally, I would like to stress that I asked the United States to adopt a clear position, to clearly support Greece with regard to issues of Turkish aggression.

Thank you very much.

JOURNALIST: Minister, what was the response to your last request?

N. DENDIAS: He took note of my request. We asked the United States for the establishment of a line of communication in the event of any issue arising in our relations with Turkey, where a clear and immediate stance from the United States could be useful. They took note of this request and will issue a relevant response.

JOURNALIST: Thank you.