FM Droutsas in New York meets UNSG

During a visit to New York on February 17 Greek Foreign Minister dimitris Droutsas met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at the organisation's headquarters, with whom he discussed the Cyprus issue and the negotiations between Athens and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the name issue as well as the situation in the Middle East.

Following the meeting, Droutsas said that "[we] want to see a settlement and the settlement in our view must be based on the UN Security Council resolutions but also on the full respect of the EU acquis communautaire since the Republic of Cyprus is a full member of the European Union and this must be taken into account in the search for a settlement."

In an interview with CNN International, the FM referred to Greece's desire to contribute constructively to the process of democratisation in the Arab world and outlined the idea of the creation in Greece of a "Democracy Centre" that could provide training and know-how to young politicians emerging in the Arab countries.

While in New York, Droutsas also met with Archbishop Demetrios of America.