Athens , 11 February 2010

Mr. Delavekouras: Good morning. I’ll start with the Ministers’ programmes.

At 11:00 tomorrow – Friday, 12 February 2010 – Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas will meet with the head of the main opposition party, the President of New Democracy, Mr. Antonis Samaras, at Rigillis, to brief him on foreign policy issues.

Meetings with the heads of the other opposition parties will follow, but they haven’t been arranged yet.

On Clean Monday, 15 February, and on Tuesday, 16 February, Mr. Droutsas will accompany Prime Minister Papandreou on his visit to Russia. If you like, I can say a few things about where we stand right now – the framework within which this visit is taking place.

I remind you that on 1 and 2 December, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov visited Greece, and on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial we had the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation for the period 2010-2012, which is the basis for the cooperation between the two countries.

We expect this to be a very good visit, during which the two sides will have the opportunity to look at the whole range of bilateral relations and to discuss relevant regional and international issues.

A few days ago, Foreign Ministry Secretary General Yannis Zepos was in Russia to prepare for the visit. We have a lot of issues concerning bilateral cooperation, the political consultations we are carrying out in the effort we are making to designate a specific year as a Year of Russia in Greece and a Year of Greece in Russia, ahead of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

We have an number of other fields of cooperation, such as tourism. Greece is interested in attracting tourists from Russia and we are one of the countries that supports acceleration of the Russia-EU dialogue on visas.

Our interests also include the foundations that exist – the very good collaboration that we have on energy issues, to also work on further deepening economic relations and expanding Greece’s presence in the Russian market.

Naturally, we also have the cooperation we have developed on regional matters, NATO-Russia and EU-Russia cooperation, the cooperation we had all last year in the OSCE, with the launching of the Corfu process, which is essentially the main forum for discussion of the proposals made by the Russian side regarding the European security architecture.

Kazakhstan holds the OSCE Chairmanship for 2010. Greece is in the OSCE Troika and can play an important role in promoting this dialogue. It interests us on a national level, because the Corfu process was essentially launched by the Greek Chairmanship, and we want to see it move ahead.

And, of course, we will also have the opportunity to discuss issues of particular interest to the two countries. These include the situation in the Balkans, relations with Turkey, and developments on the Cyprus issue, on which – I want to point out – Russia has a clear political position, also as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. More detailed briefings will be held on these issues subsequently.

Continuing with the programme, at 13:00 on Wednesday, 17 February, Mr. Droutsas will participate in the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defense and Foreign Affairs regarding Montenegro’s Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union. The ratification of this Agreement by the Hellenic Parliament is pending. And there will be a discuss to move ahead on this issue.

On Thursday, 18 February, Mr. Droutsas will travel to Zagreb in order to attend the inauguration of the newly elected President of Croatia, Mr. Josipovic, and to meet with Foreign Minister Jandrokovic for a discussion of our bilateral relations, the course of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations, and Greece’s Agenda 2014.

Subsequently, Mr. Droutsas will visit Slovakia and the Czech Republic, but the details of those visits have not been finalized yet. I will get back to you on these visits next week.

Finally, on Monday, 22 February, Mr. Droutsas will attend the EU General Affairs and Foreign Affairs Councils in Brussels.

Now on to Deputy Foreign Minister Kouvelis’ programme.

As you know, yesterday, Mr. Kouvelis returned from Haiti, where he had accompanied Greek humanitarian aid for the victims of the disastrous earthquake. During his short stay in the country, he met with Haiti’s political leadership.

At 13:00 today, in a special event, Mr. Kouvelis will present the planning and programme for economic diplomacy actions to be carried out in 2010. These actions will be aimed at actively supporting the externalization of Greek enterprises and the promotion of their international activities.

At 11:30 tomorrow – Friday, 12 February – Mr. Kouvelis will meet at the Foreign Ministry with India’s Ambassador to Athens.

At 10:30 on Tuesday, 16 February, Mr. Kouvelis will meet with Turkish Minister of State Caglayan, who will be in Athens within the framework of the “9^th Turkish Aegean Coast-Greek Aegean Islands Economic Summit”. Mr. Kouvelis will address this event at 13:30, according to the programme we have so far.

Ms. Kongo: Where will that take place?

Mr. Delavekouras: At the Hilton. On the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Kouvelis will depart for Spain, where he will participate in an informal Council of EU Development Ministers at Segovia. The agenda for this Council includes promotion of the effectiveness of development aid and ways to confront the fragmentation of aid; good economic governance; innovative sources of development funding; and further activation of EU-U.S. cooperation in the development sector. Naturally, there will also be a discussion of Haiti.

Let me just mention a couple of other things. One is that a few days ago, Greece took on the Chairmanship of the Contact Group on Combating Piracy. This Group was set up in January 2009, based on a UN Security Council Resolution, and it is the basic framework for coordinating all of the international efforts and initiatives for combating piracy off the coast of Somalia.

In his meeting with Alternate Foreign Minister Droutsas last week, the UN Secretary General expressed his thanks and congratulations on Greece’s taking up this role. And, naturally, throughout the time we hold the Chairmanship, we will have regular briefings on the Group’s work and Greece’s initiatives.

And one other thing. Today, we will have the announcement of the appointment of the head of the Greek Liaison Office in Pristina, Ambassador Moschopoulos, as facilitator for the protection of the religious and cultural heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo. This is a very positive development. It is indicative of Greece’s constructive role in the Balkans, and came about following discussions within the European Union and the assent of all the interested parties.

Ambassador Moschopoulos will contribute actively to protection of and respect for the religious and cultural heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, and he will facilitate the development of a coherent policy on this issue.

The facilitator will be assisted in his work by the Office of the European Union’s Special Representative in Kosovo.

That’s it for announcements. Your questions, please.

Ms. Fryssa: I wanted to ask whether we know when Mr. Nimetz will be coming to Athens, and whether we have any developments on the Skopje issue.

Mr. Delavekouras: The visit is scheduled for the last ten days in February. The Greek side has proposed 26 February to the Secretary General’s special representative. We expect there to be a relevant announcement soon, provided the date that has been proposed and the corresponding date proposed by Skopje are appropriate for this trip to be carried out.

Beyond that, Mr. Nimetz’s visit to Athens, at the invitation of Alternate Foreign Minister Droutsas, will essentially be the first contact the negotiator will have with the new Greek government, so that he can get the precise tone of the policy being followed by the Greek government.

Greece’s stance is positive, and we will have the opportunity to pass this on to Mr. Nimetz; to communicate to him Greece’s willingness for there to be progress soon on the name issue. And we will be able to look at how we can move the discussions ahead – the negotiations within the framework of the United Nations – so that we can reach a solution quickly.

I must reiterate that a basic prerequisite is for there to be willingness on the part of the other side to abstain from rhetoric that is hostile to Greece, and to participate constructively in the dialogue taking place under the UN.

Ms. Peloni: Do you have anything new on the Steering Committee that will be convened? Where do we stand on that? In view of the preparations for Mr. Droutsas’ trip.

Mr. Delavekouras: On the part of the Greek side, at this time preparations are being made by the Political Director, Ambassador Paraskevopoulos, so as to prepare ahead of this meeting. The time for this meeting has not been settled upon yet. As soon as it is held – and we want it to be held soon, but good preparation is needed – the Alternate Foreign Minister’s visit to Ankara will follow, but the date for this visit has not been set either.

Mr. Papathanasiou: During Mr. Droutsas’ meetings in Washington and the meetings he had with Ms. Clinton and Mr. Steinberg, was there any urging, encouragement from the U.S. side for there to be progress on the Skopje issue?

And a second question: is a meeting with Mr. Gruevski being scheduled via diplomatic channels, following the letter and the phone call?

Mr. Delavekouras: At the European Council?

Mr. Papathanasiou: Yes, yes.

Mr. Delavekouras: I’ll start with the first issue you raised. In the meetings Mr. Droutsas had in the U.S. with the political leadership of the State Department – as well as in all the meetings we have – Greece goes to the meetings in a positive spirits and puts across its desire for a speedy solution to the matter.

And we believe that a solution can come. It is a matter of political will that the other side must now show. Greece has taken very significant steps in the direction of achieving a solution, and it is obvious that for us to be successful – to reach a mutually acceptable solution – the other side has to do its share.

This is the framework in which the issue is being discussed, and there is a coincidence of views that we want to have a solution as soon as possible – a solution that will free up the Euroatlantic perspective of our neighbouring country.

Regarding the second issue you raised, I have no such information.

Mr. Kapoutsis: My first question. I would like you to clarify the following: In the meeting Mr. Droutsas has with Mr. Samaras, will he brief him on the precise content of Mr. Papandreou’s letter to Mr. Erdogan?

And the second question is whether in the meetings Mr. Papandreou has in Moscow – with the President, I imagine, the Prime Minister, etc. – whether, among other things, they will touch on the issue of the Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline, which is foundering, as we know, or even the procurement of Russian tanks for the Greek army, which has also become entangled in bureaucracy and is not moving ahead at all.

Mr. Delavekouras: Let me start with your second question. This is international activity on the part of the Prime Minister, so the briefing will come from the government spokesman. I don’t have the exact details of the agenda. But I think it is clear that energy issues will be discussed. Energy cooperation is an important part of the cooperation we have with Russia and it is our shared desire to see progress on this project, regarding which our side has declared its political will.

The first question was?

Mr. Kapoutsis: Whether Mr. Samaras will be informed.

Mr. Delavekouras: He will be briefed on all the foreign policy issues. I think it is a given that he will also be briefed on the contents of the Prime Minister’s letter to the Turkish Prime Minister. The purpose of the meeting is a briefing on all the foreign policy issues.  

Ms. Ristovska: I would like to ask about the report on Macedonia yesterday from the European Parliament. Do you have any comment?

Mr. Delavekouras: Yesterday, the European Parliament adopted important reports on the accession courses of Turkey and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Greece deeply respects the work of the European Parliament and notes with great attention the views set down in the relevant reports and takes them under serious consideration.

We consider that the candidate countries need to show the same respect for the institution of the European Parliament. The enlargement process is an intergovernmental process, and the final decisions are taken with consensus among all of the member states.

We do not comment on the content of the decisions of the European Parliament. However, I must note that we see serious deficiencies in the compliance of Turkey and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and these deficiencies need to be dealt with. First and foremost, by the countries themselves, provided they want to move ahead on their accession courses.

Greece will continue to work steadily in this direction. It is our express policy. But it must be absolutely clear that the bar cannot be lowered.

Thank you.