Athens , 23 February 2010

Mr. Droutsas: I had the opportunity and pleasure to brief LA.O.S President G. Karatzaferis on the developments in our national issues. We talked about Greek-Turkish relations, developments on the Cyprus issue and developments on the issue of the name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The meeting took place within the framework of the government’s commitment to keep all the political parties apprised of foreign policy issues, and in the sincere spirit of cooperation and consensus. I want to stress that I didn’t come here just to brief Mr. Karatzaferis, but also to hear his very useful views on all these issues. I would like to take to opportunity of our meeting to thank him for the very constructive discussion.

Mr. Karatzaferis: Alternate Foreign Minister Droutsas was kind enough to brief us – myself and the members of the Foreign Policy Council, Messrs. Georgiou and Korantis – on developments concerning our national issues.

I think things are being handled carefully. We are present on these issues, we give priority to these national issues, and I believe that today we are at a turning point where we all need to have responsible positions and keep our feet on the ground.