Athens
, 26 February 2010
Mr. Delavekouras: The meeting between Alternate Foreign Minister Mr. Dimitris Droutsas and the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy, Mr. Matthew Nimetz, has just finished. It was held following an invitation from the Greek side, Mr. Droutsas, to Mr. Nimetz, and it was the first opportunity for the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy to meet with the new Greek government.
The meeting was very good. There was an open discussion, a sincere dialogue, a review of the course of this process over the past few years, an examination of the current state of play. We were able to talk substantially about the framework within which the negotiations are taking place and lay, I believe, the proper foundations in order for this process under the auspices United Nations to move forward.
Mr. Nimetz briefed the Greek side on his meetings in Skopje. His reading is that there is an intention to move forward, which the Greek side hopes we will see in reality, because we truly want to see progress. We think that the Greek initiatives and, in particular, the Greek Prime Minister’s meetings with his counterpart from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have created positive dynamics in the two countries' relations. And they are having a positive impact on the process under the UN.
I believe we sent the same positive message in December with the Council of the European Union conclusions; a message that says that Greece wants to find a solution, wants to move ahead, wants to do this quickly, and free up our neighbouring country’s Euroatlantic course.
We were given the opportunity to present our positions in detail, talk about this different mindset with which we are approaching this issue, the effort to send a positive message to the other side, the importance of our getting a response in order for us to be able to move ahead.
We hope that these indications that there might be a positive change will finally result in actions at the negotiating table. We hope that the positive message sent by Greece is starting to be heard.
We hope we will be able to move ahead. There have not been any decisions as yet on the next steps in this process. We will be in contact with the negotiator in order to define them.
Thank you.