Athens
, 29 July 2010
Mr. Delavekouras: Good morning. I’ll start with the programme for the coming days.
Tomorrow – Friday – at 10:00, Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas will meet with the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Mr. Downer. During the meeting, Mr. Droutsas will reaffirm the priority Greece gives to the process for the resolution of the Cyprus issue, as well as our country’s support for President Christofias’s recent proposals.
These proposals can lend momentum to the negotiation process and significantly improve the climate. They show that President Christofias is a step ahead in the initiatives to resolve the Cyprus issue, and we hope that the Turkish side will, in the end, respond positively to this call for progress in the talks.
Tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Droutsas will depart for Belgrade and Pristina, where he will carry out a visit on 30 and 31 July. In Belgrade, Mr. Droutsas will be received by Serbian Patriarch Irinej, as well as Serbian President Tadic.
He will also have a working dinner with Serbian Foreign Minister Jeremic, with whom he will also sign a Greek-Serbian Memorandum of Cooperation on European Union issues. Finally, during his stay in Belgrade Mr. Droutsas will meet with Greek businesspersons. In Pristina, Mr. Droutsas will meet with Messrs. Sejdiu and Thaçi.
This trip is being carried out in light of the ICJ advisory opinion, and Mr. Droutsas had the opportunity to discuss this issue and his desire to carry out this trip at the General Affairs Council in Brussels this past Monday.
The European Union is moving in coordinated steps, stressing – and this is the message we will be conveying in our meetings – that the future of the region lies in the EU. This is the basic message we need to focus on, while also listening carefully to positions stated by the parties regarding the next steps to be taken.
We believe that the advisory opinion can serve as a springboard for a substantial political process that will facilitate cooperation and understanding with a view to the European future of the region. So, the purpose of our talks will be to see what the next steps are so that we can achieve this goal.
At 13:00 today – at the Foreign Ministry – Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis will receive pupils from Greek schools in Ukraine, minority schools in Albania and pupils being taught the Greek language in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The schoolchildren are being hosted in Greece at Athens Municipality summer camps.
At 16:00 today, Mr. Kouvelis will meet with the State Department’s Special Envoy on Eurasian energy issues, Ambassador Morningstar. They will discuss recent developments in the energy sector in the wider region of Southeast Europe and Central Asia, as will as investment prospects in our region.
I would also like to announce that within the framework of cutting spending and rationalization of the operation of the Foreign Ministry – and to participate further in confronting the economic difficulties that exist – the political leadership of the Foreign Ministry has decided to suspend operation of Greece’s Consulates General in Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig and Naples, as well as of the Consulates in Nice and Durban.
It has also been decided to close down the Consulates General in London, Paris and Brussels and to open Consular Offices that will be housed in the Embassies in these cities. These moves are being made in the direction of financial adaptation, but also ensure the smooth operation of the Foreign Ministry’s services abroad. They are being made within the framework of a broader reorganization of the Foreign Ministry, announcements regarding which will be made in the autumn by Alternate Minister Droutsas.
That’s it for announcements. Your questions, please.
Ms. Fryssa: (off microphone)
Mr. Delavekouras: Those are precisely the issues that we want to discuss at this time.
We – along with the European Union as a whole – believe that the advisory opinion can be used as a departure point for the opening of a political process; a dialogue that will guide developments and keep us from getting bogged down. The point of reference being that the future of the region – and we all agree on this – lies in the European Union.
At this time, we need to look at the next steps , the intentions of both sides. Obviously, the next venue for the discussion will be the United Nations, where the ICJ opinion will be considered. This is precisely why we are going to Belgrade and Pristina to have these meetings: to see what the next steps will be.
Greece is a member of the European Union in the region – with a special role – and is being called upon right now to meet its responsibilities. Greece had undertaken initiatives that underscore our region’s European perspective: Agenda 2014, which lends fresh momentum to this process.
In this context, we are declaring our presence and readiness. We are going to the region to have meetings in order to see what the next steps will be in the direction of a political process.
Mr. Konstantakopoulos: When you say “with this decision as a point of departure,” this means that in this process – assuming the specific decision is taken, mind – it will have to include, in the end, the non-recognition of Kosovo as an independent entity. Is this the Greek position? Do we know what our position is? Will we continue to support Serbia’s territorial integrity, or will we recognize an independent Kosovo?
Mr. Delavekouras: The ICJ opinion analyzes legal aspects of the issue that has been raised – an issue that is also profoundly political. And that is why we are talking about a political process. Greece’s position is well known and is not changing.
Beyond that, we have to see how this political process will be activated in the direction of finding a consensus solution and that will thus facilitate the overall course of the region towards the European Union.
Mr. Goro: (off microphone)
Mr. Delavekouras: I don’t want to go into scenarios. At this time, there really is no point. The ICJ opinion was issued a few days ago. Right now the opinion and its impact is being analyzed by all of the Foreign Ministries in the world, including the Greek Foreign Ministry.
Precisely because of its position and role in the region, Greece is stepping up – going to Belgrade and Pristina for meetings and talks – to listen as well as to convey and stress Europe’s message: that the future of the whole region lies in the European Union.
But we need to clarify and stress that this process will require some steps, and these will have to be careful steps. That is why there is no point in our going into a discussion of various scenarios.
Mr. Papathanassiou: Do you have anything to tell us regarding when the High Council on Foreign Policy is to be convened?
Mr. Delavekouras: The Ministry’s political leadership wants to convene it next week, if all of the other members are available.
If there are no other questions, thank you very much, and have a nice summer.