Athens, 21 January 2010

Mr. Droutsas: It is a great pleasure to welcome my friend the Austrian Foreign Minister, Dr. Michael Spindelegger, to Athens today.

During our meeting we had the opportunity to review our excellent bilateral relations and to further examine our cooperation on both a political and economic level.

Our discussion focussed on the European perspective of the countries of the Balkans and – within that framework – Greece’s “Agenda 2014” initiative, which, as you know, follows the previous Greek initiative for the Balkans, the 2003 “Thessaloniki Agenda”.

We have seen that, for various reasons, the momentum that had been created for the European perspective of the Balkans has waned in recent years. And it is our common impression that the European accession process of the Balkan countries needs fresh momentum. And that is the reason for Greece’s “Agenda 2014” proposal; a target-date that comes 100 years after the outbreak of World War I. A symbolic date on which we hope the European Union – 100 years after the outbreak of World War I – will step up to its responsibilities and contribute effectively, once again, to peace and stability in the Balkan region.

I would like to express my warm thanks to my dear friend the Foreign Minister of Austria, Michael Spindelegger, for the joint initiative we will take to send a joint letter to all of the Foreign Ministers of the member states of the European Union in order to promote this idea; the accession course of the Balkans.

And we aim to make further joint moves with Austria. Greece and Austria have common interests in the region. Greece is at the center of the region, I would say. Austria has a rich past and history in the Balkan region. And I believe that this joint initiative and the joint actions will substantially help in the realization of the goal of the European accession of the countries of the Balkans.

Dear Michael, I would like once again to welcome you to Greece and, as we said, I very much look forward to our very close cooperation – and not just on the issue of the Balkans.

Dr. Spindelegger: Thank you very much, my dear Dimitris.

Ladies and gentlemen, in my capacity as Foreign Minister I must say that it was a great pleasure to be able to be here in Athens today.

Following the preliminary discussions Dimitris and I had in Vienna, today we are in a position to present to you a joint initiative. This joint initiative is aimed at bringing the countries of the Western Balkans closer to the European Union.

And in 2010 in particular, because this will give us the time to overcome any potential obstacles and make it possible for these countries to come closer to the European Union.

Greece has invaluable experience with regard to its relations with the countries of the Balkans. Austria, on the other hand, has historical ties with these countries, of course. As such, I think that these two countries are in a good position to bring the Balkan countries closer to the European Union.

The goal is, within a reasonable period of time, for there not to be a country between Austria and Greece that is not a member of the European Union. As such, I think now – early in 2010 – is a very good date on which to have drawn up this joint letter to the Foreign Ministers of the member states of the European Union, and in this way we are kicking off this initiative.

Allow me to express my warm thanks to the Greek Minister, Mr. Dimitris Droutsas, who, in such a short time after taking up his duties, wanted to impart fresh momentum to this initiative, which I think will bring results.

Journalist: What is your comment on the revelation of an article in a Turkish daily on the plans of military circles to create tension in the Aegean that would lead ultimately to an armed incident? And how does this practice hinder rapprochement between the two countries?

Mr. Droutsas: Of course, in our talks with Mr. Spindelegger we discussed – and we will discuss later on – issues concerning Turkey, the Cyprus issue and the other developments in the Balkans. Including the issue of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, of course.

With regard to the matter you referred to, the information that came to light is indicative of a mindset that is maintained in certain circles in our neighbouring country. It is indicative of the obstacles we come up against in our efforts to build relations of trust and cooperation with Turkey. I know that the issue is still being looked into. We will monitor developments and the course of the investigations with great care. But I can do no more than express my dislike of and dismay at these scenarios. I hope, at least, that as of today they are in the past.

Journalist: I would like to ask about the name issue and the problem between Macedonia and Greece. Did you speak about that? And what we can expect the next six months? Thank you.

Mr. Droutsas: We will further discuss about this issue with the Foreign Minister, and you know how the Greek position is, how Greece is approaching the issue.

We have put forward a very concrete proposal to solve this issue. You know that Greece is speaking about a name with a geographical qualifier that should be used by everybody, and we think that by this proposal this issue can really be settled once and for all.

You know very well that the Greek government and the Prime Minister, Prime Minister Papandreou personally, he has taken immediately after the elections here in Greece the initiative to invite Prime Minister Gruevski for a direct contact. We already had two such meetings, with the aim to show that Greece is the side that is willing to proceed with the settlement of this issue.

We are expressing also in this way our absolute willingness to come up with a settlement. I think that Greece has shown and is still showing the necessary constructive attitude.

We would be very delighted to see also the side of Skopje to come with the same constructive attitude to the negotiating table, under the United Nations framework.

Once again, we would also like to send to the public opinion, to the people of our neighbouring country, the very clear message that Greece is the country that wants the prosperity of all our neighbours. As we have also discussed with the initiative, the Agenda 2014, we are looking into promoting efficiently the European accession process of all our neighbouring countries in the Balkans.

This is valid, of course, also for Skopje. And in order to be able to do this in an efficient manner, we are of the opinion that we need to solve first the name issue, and in our view it is high time to do so. Thank you.

Dr. Spindelegger: Just from my point of view, I think I would like to underline what Dimitris has said. What we need is a solution for this delicate issue, but we know about the UN framework for that. We think we should come up with a proposal, but I think just to have a solution there is one condition: You have to get more dialogue about that, and you have to get more bilateral understanding from both sides.

And I hope that this initiative from the Greek side will really be a step forward, just to come up with a solution very soon.