Athens
, 19 July 2007
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Good morning.
On Monday, 23 July, Foreign Minister Ms. Dora Bakoyannis will participate in the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) in Brussels.
On Wednesday, 25 July, at 11:30, she will deliver an address as the swearing-in ceremony for the 16th class of Embassy Attaché candidates. On the same day, at 13:00, Ms. Bakoyannis will meet with the new Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus, Ms. Erato Markouli, who will be carrying out a working visit to our country.
Regarding the GAERC, as I said, it will take place in Brussels, and will be attended by the Foreign Minister as well as Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Valinakis. During the proceedings, Regional Policy Commissioner Ms. Danuta Hubner is to present the Commission’s 4th Cohesion Report, which describes, for the first time, the economic, social and territorial situation in the enlarged Europe of 27 member states.
Other issues to be discussed by the General Affairs Council include the Doha negotiations within the framework of the WTO, preparation for the EU-Ukraine Summit Meeting to be held in September, and recent developments in Darfur and the wider region.
At the working luncheon, the discussion will cover developments in the Western Balkans – particularly in Kosovo, where, as you know, we are at a critical stage in the whole process. Also to be discussed at the luncheon is the situation in the Middle East, particularly with regard to Lebanon and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Finally, the ceremony marking the opening of the Intergovernmental Conference on the issue of the Reform Treaty will be held on the margins of the proceedings, in implementation of the decisions taken at the recent European Council.
On Tuesday, 24 July, the 4th EU-FYROM Stabilisation and Association meeting will take place. The relevant common position of the EU – adopted recently, as you know, by the Council, on the level of Permanent Representatives – will be presented at this meeting.
There will very likely also be a discussion of developments in Iran and a presentation By the UK of the Litvinenko case.
On Wednesday, 25 July, at 11:30, at the Foreign Ministry, the swearing-in ceremony for the 16th class of Embassy Attaché candidates will take place.
The President of the Republic, Mr. Karolos Papoulias, will award the diplomas to the 21 graduates of the Diplomatic Academy. A small reception will be held following the swearing-in ceremony.
Regarding the activities of Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Yannis Valinakis, today he will receive, at his office, the Political Director of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Evripidis Evriviadis, who is in Athens for consultations with his Greek counterpart.
On Monday, 23 July, Mr. Valinakis will be in Brussels for the GAERC. On the same day, Mr. Valinakis will represent our country at the opening of the proceedings of the Intergovernmental Conference. This will take place in Brussels in the presence of the President of the European Commission, Mr. Barroso.
On Monday, 23 July, Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Stylianidis will accompany Prime Minister Mr. Karamanlis to Sarajevo, where the Prime Minister and his Bosnian counterpart will officially open the Greek-Bosnian Friendship Building. This will mark the completion of one of the most important public projects of the Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans (HiPERB), with a budget of €16.8 million, of which Greek participation amounted to €13.5 million – 80.4% of the total cost. I stress that this Building, which is in the centre of Sarajevo, will house the government services of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Within the framework of this visit, Mr. Stylianidis will sign, with his Bosnian counterpart, an Agreement on Economic and Technological Cooperation and an Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation.
On Wednesday, 25 July, Mr. Stylianidis will receive the Georgian Ambassador to Athens, Mr. Zviad Chumburidze, at the Foreign Ministry. The main topic of their meeting will be preparations for the Georgian President’s visit to Greece. On the same day, at 11:00, Mr. Stylianidis will receive – at the Foreign Ministry – former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Ms. Barbara Hope and ten Greek-American student from Harvard University.
On Wednesday, 25 July, Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Kassimis will declare the opening of the 2nd World Conference of Laconians Abroad, which will take place in Sparta on 25-29 July.
Are there any questions?
Mr. Polatos: Can you clarify for us whether, within the framework of the GAERC, the Greek Foreign Minister – Greek diplomacy – will raise the issue of the persecution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate by the Turkish authorities?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: As you know, the issue of the problems being confronted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate as regards its functioning and the questioning of its ecumenical nature is an issue of special interest to Greece. But it is an issue that we have repeatedly said has an international dimension – a European and broader dimension.
In line with this position of ours and due to the recently observed events and actions that are creating understandably serious concern regarding the stance on the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Foreign Minister, as of yesterday, addressed a letter to Enlargement Commissioner Mr. Rehn, in which she briefed him on the relevant recent events.
Greece is also proposing that the Foreign Minister brief her EU counterparts during the General Affairs Council luncheon on Monday.
That’s what I have to tell you in answer to your question. Let me add that our Diplomatic Missions abroad have been directed to brief the governments of the countries to which they are accredited.
Mr. Gkogkas: I would like you to tell me whether Athens is satisfied with the common position that was adopted by the 27 and will be presented to FYROM on Tuesday, and whether, in the end, this common position is seen as counter-balancing or cancelling out the previous European Parliament Resolution.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I will start with your question regarding the common position of the European Union that is to be presented on Tuesday. This is a text that, as you can see, is of particular importance because it was adopted by the 27 member states – by the 27 governments; that is, on the level of the Council of Ministers. So it consists of the positions of the European Union.
The common positions are always and in each case reference texts on the course of the relations of countries interested in acceding to the European Union. This holds true in the case of FYROM.
There are two or three points in the text that I would like to refer to – purely as an indication – that establish, within a European text, our concerns regarding the well known matter of the pending issues that exist with our neighbouring country.
In the preamble to the common position, the Council requests that FYROM implement the priorities described in the Partnership. I want to remind you here that among the short-term priorities of the Partnership is the obligation of our neighbouring country to intensify its efforts to reach a mutually acceptable solution on the name issue.
Another point. This year, for the first time, reference is made in a document to encouraging the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to maintain good neighbourly relations and constant, strengthened ties of cooperation with all its neighbours, avoiding actions that might negatively impact good neighbourly relations.
Another reference – also stated for the first time – is the EU’s clear insistence that FYROM avoid actions that might negatively impact good neighbourly relations. This is a reference of key importance.
Finally, I think it is noteworthy that in the paragraph concerning good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation, it is specifically stated that there is a call for the government of Skopje to proceed to renewed efforts, with a positive approach, to find a mutually acceptable solution on the name issue with Greece, under the auspices of the United Nations, contributing in this manner to regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations.
As you can see, this is a text of particular importance.
You asked me to what extent there is a correlation – whether or not this text cancels out the resolution passed recently by the European Parliament.
I will insist on the complete separation of the two texts. The Resolution adopted by the European Parliament is a non-legal document and is not of the binding nature of a legal text.
It is a European Parliament Resolution. I’m not belittling its significance, but I said at our previous meeting that when we compare its initial form and the final version, we have reason – and we said this straight out and publicly – to see it as a positive development.
But I clearly distinguish the text of the Resolution, as I said, from the text of the Common Position, which is a text adopted on the level of the Council; that is, on the level of the body that takes decisions in the European Union.
Returning to the Resolution, as certain criticisms were made – for example, that there is a reference to the effect that the name issue cannot constitute an obstacle to the European accession course of our neighbouring country.
I remind you that this reference was also present in the previous report, in the Brok report, specifically in paragraph 43. I would also like to remind you that a large majority of Greek MEPs voted in favour of the Brok report in March 2006. When I say a large majority, I mean at least the two large parties.
Mr. Kapoutsis: (off microphone) … New Democracy MEPs sign …
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: You know the facts, but there was a dimension that was not disclosed regarding the criticism levelled at the Meijer report.
Mr. Pollatos: (off microphone). From what I understand, you are trying at this point to make a reference to the name issue, i.e., that the vote in favour of it on the part of New Democracy MEPs does not constitute a problem, saying that a similar reference had been voted for by PASOK MEPs. OK, your effort is clear, but I would simply like to ask whether the Foreign Ministry agrees with the wording included in a recent report by the European Parliament, according to which the name issue in the case of FYROM cannot be an obstacle to the country’s European course.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: The Foreign Ministry is taking a position on texts that are within its competence and regarding which it is carrying out its role. The common position that will be presented on Tuesday is one such text.
The Foreign Ministry contents itself with considering it a positive development; with saying that it is a text adopted by a strong European Parliament Committee, which was very negative at first, which was finally – in the form that it was adopted by the European Parliament Plenary Session – truly different and clearly more positive than the initial text.
Mr. Pollatos: If you allow me to continue, I believe – and this is a personal comment – that you are going beyond your competences and you are now saying that PASOK MEPs had voted in favour of a similar reference, so I understand that they have no right to speak. I am therefore clearly asking something which you are entitled to speak about: does the Foreign Ministry agree that the name issue cannot be an obstacle to FYROM’s European course?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: First of all, with regard to the Common Position, I think you can see that what is included in it is close to Greece’s positions. Secondly, our position on this issue has been stated repeatedly. We have said that the Interim Accord cannot be applied in a piecemeal manner. Greece cannot be the only one to be committed to a specific reference, when the other contracting party does not commit itself to other references, such as paragraph 7 on irredentism, etc.
Greece is keeping all the possibilities at its disposal open. This has been stated repeatedly.
With regard to your more personal comment about exceeding my role, I would not at all agree with you. As you know, I have been and still am extremely careful not to carry out any task through my positions or statements other than the representation of the Foreign Ministry.
I referred to a fact without making evaluations on what one or the other did. I am not the representative of any MEPs.
I exclusively referred to a fact, because there were misunderstandings on the substance. There was an impression that a reference was included for the first time in a European Parliament report, but in reality it was not the first time that a reference like this was made.
I therefore referred to that, saying that it is not happening for the first time, it was in the Brok report.
Ms. Peloni: I would like to come back to the issue of the Patriarchate and ask, first of all, if a demarche is going to be made to the Turkish authorities and, secondly, what exactly is included in the Minister’s letter to Mr. Rehn. You said that it contains an evaluation of the facts and a briefing, but is there, for instance, a reference to the fact that this behaviour – Turkey’s efforts – do not comply with the Copenhagen criteria?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: At the moment, I cannot refer to the letter’s content, much less in the detail you are asking for. I think I have given a clear description of the reasoning behind the Greek government’s actions, and in this light always, it is a wider issue, it is not a Greek-Turkish issue, it is of concern to Europe, to the international community. But, at the same time, it is an issue in which there is justifiably particular Greek interest. In implementation of this position, Greece is taking the initiatives that I have mentioned.
Journalist: I would like to come back to the issue of the European Parliament resolution. In the Foreign Ministry’s opinion, does this resolution facilitate or does it undermine Greece’s positions and arguments with regard to FYROM’s accession to the European Union?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: We gave our position in detail on the issue of the resolution during our last meeting here. Apart from that, I would like to stress that the field in which the Foreign Ministry – within the limits of its competence – de facto focuses its actions is the field of action of the Council, the decision-making body, which – through its decisions – ultimately determines the accession course of aspiring or candidate member states.
Journalist: So does the resolution constitute a negative precedent?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I do not think anyone can judge whether it is something negative or not, given that the content of another text, the text of the Common Position, is known to us; the text of the EU Common Position with regard to FYROM’s accession course. I will not make a comparison between the two texts. If you want to, you can make the comparison yourself within the framework of your mission as a journalist.
Ms. Fryssa: I would like to ask a question on an issue that is not directly within the Foreign Ministry’s competence, regarding Ms. Merkel’s visit tomorrow. Whether Ms. Bakoyannis will receive her and whether we know anything more about the agenda of her discussions.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Yes.
Ms. Fryssa: The agenda?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Agenda? You know that I am strictly following the rule that briefings on the Prime Minister’s visits and meetings are given by the Prime Minister’s Press Office and the government spokesman.
Mr. Gilson: You said that the Litvinenko affair will be discussed at the General Affairs Council on Monday.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Yes.
Mr. Gilson: This affair has triggered a fierce diplomatic war between Russia and Britain. What risks does this diplomatic war entail for relations between the European Union and Russia, and what role does the European Union play in this conflict?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I would be able to answer to all that if our meeting took place on Tuesday following the Foreign Ministers’ luncheon, when there will have been a full briefing on the part of the UK. Without this briefing, I cannot make any appraisals.
Mr. Gilson: But Greece and almost all the other EU member states have a very close relationship with Russia in the energy sector. This relationship is clearly extremely important for all the countries, including Greece. Should I not assume that the Greek Foreign Ministry has a certain opinion, certain interests and certain thoughts on what is happening, or should we wait and see what the others say in order to know what our interests are?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: We know our interests. We know them very well and you know that. Besides, they are indicated by specific actions that have been taken particularly in the vital sector that you mentioned, i.e., the energy sector.
Beyond that, there is an ongoing issue, which we are monitoring with particular attention as it could potentially result in dimensions such as the ones you mentioned. But your final position, our final position – as is the case I think with all responsible governments and all responsible states – is only drawn up once there is a full briefing from the directly involved parties. Great Britain is willing to provide such a briefing at the next General Affairs Council, due to take place on Monday.
Mr. Kapoutsis: I would like to come back to the Skopje issue. My question is the following: Does the name – the international name of our neighbouring country, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – constitute an obstacle to this country’s accession into the European Union and NATO? In other words, could this country accede under this particular name to both NATO and the European Union?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: From a different approach, you are returning to a topic whose elements are well-known. I have no problem answering this question, but you are bringing back a discussion on which all the parameters with regard to Greece’s position are well-known.
As you know, there is a process to resolve this issue in a mutually acceptable manner within the framework of the United Nations. This is an ongoing process; Greece has demonstrated that it is taking part in it in a constructive manner.
And the name issue, as you know, is not an issue that exists in isolation from other issues. This is why we have repeatedly stressed, particularly lately, that Greece’s decision will be the outcome of an overall judgment based on certain areas of criteria.
And we have already mentioned them. It is the constructive participation of the neighbouring country in the process of finding a mutually acceptable solution; its stance on actions or the promotion of views that follow an irredentist reasoning and all the positions and criteria – among which particular weight is given to good neighbourly relations, which have been tabled by NATO – and also progress with regard to the rule of law, the smooth operation of justice, the implementation of the Ohrid agreement, etc.
Therefore, this is indicative of the way in which we address the overall issue. The name is not an issue isolated under laboratory conditions, without other things taking place, without there being other actions related to this issue.
Mr. Spyropoulos: Could you tell us something more about what will be discussed at the meeting of Ms. Bakoyannis and the Cypriot Foreign Minister?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: As you can see, it is first of all a meeting for the two Ministers to get to know each other, which of course will give them the opportunity to review the situation and discuss prospective developments, with an emphasis on developments on the Cyprus issue. I have nothing further to announce at the moment.
Ms. Kolliopoulou: I simply wanted to ask the date of the Georgian President’s arrival.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I’ll look into it and let you know.
Thank you.