Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis’ coordination meeting with members of the Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe (28.09.2021)
The course of the dialogue on the future of Europe was at the center of a coordinating meeting held today by the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs for European affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, in a videoconference with members of the Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe. The meeting took place at the initiative of the Alternate Minister who is the coordinator of the national campaign in the framework of the dialogue which is held at a pan-European level for the Future of Europe.
Deputy Minister of Justice, Giorgos Kotsiras, and New Democracy MP Marietta Giannakou participated in the meeting in person. New Democracy MP Dimitris Keridis, SYRIZA MP Ioannis Bournous, KINAL MP and former Prime Minister Giorgos Papandreou, SYRIZA MEP and Vice-President of the European Parliament Dimitris Papadimoulis, the President of the Association of the European Committee of the Regions and Governor of the Region of Central Macedonia, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, and the national representative of Civil Society, Giorgos Pagoulatos, participated via videoconference. It is noted that Ms Giannakou and Messrs Keridis, Bournous, and Papandreou are members of the four-person team representing the national Parliament in the Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
The purpose of the meeting was to present national priorities and exchange views on the Conference on the Future of Europe.
In particular, during his presentation, the Alternate Minister set the framework and the axes of the national positions, underlining the weaknesses and difficulties identified in the project of the Conference on the Future of Europe, especially in terms of the low participation, which is a widely-acknowledged fact, as demonstrated at the recent General Affairs Council where the issue was discussed. Mr. Varvitsiotis informed all participants that 13 regional events have been planned for the further mobilization of the citizens, four of which have already taken place in Greek regions.
During their speeches, all participants congratulated the Alternate Minister on his initiative, while emphasizing the need to continue such coordination meetings on a regular basis to better promote Greek positions at the European level and especially at the core of the decision-making bodies, the European Council and the European Parliament.