Athens, 7 March 2010

The “Gymnich” meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers is always a good opportunity to discuss the main issues of our foreign policy at greater length and more openly.

The discussions focussed on the major challenges coming up for European Union foreign policy, as well as on the necessary institutional changes that will provide for the exercising of a common foreign policy.

The decisions we are taking today are important because they determine the manner in which we – as the European Union – will face these challenges in the future.

Moreover, we discussed and expressed our full support for the indirect talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

We also discussed the European course of the Western Balkans. I am in the pleasant position to say that the Greek initiative Agenda 2014 is the focus of the thoughts and discussions, and the necessary political thrust we were awaiting has already been created for the region of the Western Balkans.

Finally, it was also a good opportunity to brief my colleagues on the recent developments in Greece and the struggle Greece and the Greek people are mounting to emerge from the maelstrom of the economic crisis, which resulted from unsound political practices and attitudes of the recent past.

International speculation is a one of Greece’s and the Greek people’s major foes in this struggle. In this struggle against market speculators, Greece is not alone. And I think that this is a clear and important message from yesterday’s meeting in Berlin between the Prime Minister and German Chancellor Merkel.