Category: Government

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Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias will meet with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Athens on Monday, May 31, 2021.
The talks will focus on the bilateral relations, as well as on regional and international developments.

A special event marking the 40th anniversary of Greece’s accession to the European Union, as well as the official launch of the public dialogue on the Conference on the Future of Europe. will be held on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 19:00 in Zappeion Megaron.

The event is organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the coordination of the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs, Mr. Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, with the support of the Representation of the European Commission and the European Parliament Liaison Office in Greece.

The event will be honoured by the presence of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Ms Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Speeches will be addressed by the Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the President of the European Parliament Mr. David Sassoli, the President of the European Council Mr. Charles Michel and the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Miltiadis Varvitsiotis. Videotaped messages will be addressed by the President-in-Office of the Council of the EU and Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ms. Ursula von der Leyen.

A photo exhibition on the 40 years of Greece’s accession in the European Communities will also be launched in Zappeion Megaron.

The event will be broadcast live by ERT1, while live streaming will be available through the Facebook pages of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Representation of the European Commission and the Office of the European Parliament in Greece.

Follow all the Conference updates on the page “Greece for the Future of the EU” on facebook, twitter and instagram with the hashtags #FuturEUgr, #CoFoE, #40ΕλλάδαEE.

“Your Eminence,
Mr. Mayor, Ms. Ambassador, dear Salahov,
Dear Friends,

It is a moving moment for me to be here in Gelendzhik today, in a place that is full of the common history of Greece and Russia.

Mr. Mayor, please allow me to say that I feel like I am standing on a three-level bridge, a bridge between Greece and Russia. The first level is very old: it is 2.500 years since the first settlers from Megara and Athens arrived at this region. At the second level stand Cyril and Methodius, who devised the Slavic alphabet and laid the foundations for Christianity here in Russia. In fact yesterday, during the meeting with my friend and counterpart Sergei Lavrov, we agreed to hold events and highlight this significant milestone. The third level, as His Eminence said earlier, is Pontic Hellenism, part of which fled after the genocide and settled here in the hospitable Russian land.

I come to this land thirty years after another important visit here, of the then Prime Minister of Greece Konstantinos Mitsotakis. I come on behalf of his son, the current Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to convey his message that Greece stands by your side, next to you, and is grateful to you for preserving its living memory here.

I must confess that I am surprised by the dynamism of the Greek element here, without, Mr. Mayor, wanting to downplay the contribution of the other 79 ethnicities living in Gelendzhik. But I should be excused for feeling proud of my compatriots. And will you allow me, Mr. Mayor, to repeat what we both agreed, that we will make efforts so that I return here until the end of this year – a year that marks the 200th anniversary of the modern Greek state, to the creation of which Russia has had a significant contribution. We can’t afford another 30 years to pass.

Immediately afterwards, our Ambassador Ms. Nasika, who works tirelessly to promote Greek-Russian relations, a fact of which I am very proud of, will present you with a book of Greek folk songs by Fauriel which was first published in 1824-1825. We have republished it adding a translation in Russian. Why folk songs? Because not only do they express the sorrow and pain of ordinary people, but also the whole tradition of thousands of years of history, as lived and understood by the people. It is because we know very well the profoundness of the Russian soul that we seek to build a bridge that connects our souls.

Thank you very much for the honour of being here with you again.

Mr. Salahov, thank you for your hospitality.”

“Dear Mr. Mayor,
Mr. President,
Ms. Ambassador,

It is a great pleasure and honour for me to be here in Gelendzhik today.

I come here as Minister of Foreign Affairs, but allow me to say that somehow it makes me feel at home.

The bonds with this region are 2.500 years old. In fact, discussing with my friend the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergei Lavrov, yesterday, when I mentioned I was coming to Gelendzhik, he was very well aware of the place. He told me, Mr. Mayor, how beautiful it is and that many Greeks live here.

The modern Greek state is 200 years old and Russia played a vital part in its creation. The Russian fleet, together with the French and British ones, defeated the Turkish-Egyptian fleet. And thus, following the Greek Revolution, a modern Greek state was created at last, after the hard war of the Greeks against the Ottoman Empire.

We have never forgotten our debt to Russia and Prime Minister Mishustin was in Athens to celebrate with us the 200 years of our Independence. Prime Minister Mitsotakis will reciprocate the visit. I hope he will visit Russia within the year and meet with President Putin.

Also, Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first governor of Greece, was Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Congress of Vienna where the European architecture was built after the Napoleonic Wars.

But all that is history. Now, let us look at the future together, with you being the bridge between Russia and modern Greece which is now entering its third century.

We will do our best to assist, equipping our Consulate in Novorossiysk with infrastructure that will allow for easier communication and better services, so you can visit your homeland, your second homeland, anytime you want. Also, we will try as much as possible to send Greek language teachers and educators in the region for those who wish to become acquainted with it and thus be able to follow the traditions of both countries.

I am afraid I bored you and this is unfair to the great honour you did me to be here today. You will allow me, however, to tire you a little more and greet all of you, so that I can say I had the honour of shaking your hand and getting to know each and every one of you personally.

Thank you for serving Russia, Greece and the Greek-Russian friendship.

Thank you very much.”

“It is a great honour and pleasure for me to be welcomed today, here in Sochi, by the dear Minister, a few months after his visit to Athens, and I thank him warmly for his hospitality.

After all, here in the Black Sea region, we are in an area that has been closely linked to Greek history for 2.500 years and – as the Minister said – here lives a prosperous Greek community which I will have the opportunity to meet tomorrow in Genendzhik and Anapa.

We are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution and I would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Russia for its particular contribution to the liberation of our country.

The bonds between our two countries are historic and multi-levelled. Besides, we hope to hold as many events as possible this year in the context of the Greek-Russian history year to emphasise this relationship.

Today we discussed at length the prospects of deepening our relations in various fields, building on discussions we had last autumn in Athens, but also on the contacts of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with his counterpart Mikhail Mishustin, who did us the honour to attend the events for the 200 years of our Independence.

There are great prospects in the field of the economy. In fact, we start from a very low point because, especially from the Greek side, trade has shrunk significantly in recent years. We discussed the prospects of Russian investments.

I had the opportunity to stress the enormous importance Greece attaches to tourism, as a sector that connects our countries, but also of significant economic interest. For a week now, we have stated our readiness to welcome Russians who would like to visit Greece and have been vaccinated or tested negative. However, I asked the Russian side to allow the resumption of flights between the two countries. I repeat this request in public, as I did emphatically in our private discussion with the Minister.

All bilateral issues, as well as our cooperation will be discussed again during the visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Russia, something we hope will happen within this year.

We also had the opportunity to discuss issues in the wider region. I informed the Minister about the talks in Geneva on the Cyprus issue, but also on the broader issues of the Eastern Mediterranean.

I underlined Greece’s will to promote an agenda and an honest dialogue with Turkey, firmly on the basis of International Law. I stressed once again the great satisfaction of the Greek side for the fact that Russia has repeatedly supported the inalienable right to the extension of our territorial waters and the fact that all disputes should be resolved on the basis of the International Law of the Sea, a position that the Minister reiterated in our discussions today.
I also expressed my appreciation for Russia’s commitment to the UN Security Council resolutions on the Cyprus issue.

I voiced my concern for the fact that Turkey is projecting itself as the successor to the Ottoman heritage, but also as the leader of Muslims everywhere, a practice that is destabilizing the broader region.

We discussed the developments in the Middle East. Russia’s contribution to promoting stability, especially as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is of paramount importance.

Finally, we had an honest and open discussion on the relations between the European Union and Russia. These relations are not at a good level and this raises a huge concern for us, because we attach great importance to them.

I would like to remind you that the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement was signed 27 years ago, during the Greek Presidency, on the island of my origin, Corfu. By a strange circumstance, even if I had no involvement in politics then, I was present at the signing ceremony, which took place in the church of St. George.

It is the desire of the Government of Prime Minister Mitsotakis for the relationship between the EU and Russia to return to the level it was at, and not deteriorate further. We believe that Russia is an integral part of the European security architecture and plays a key role in addressing regional and global challenges.

For this reason it is necessary to maintain communication channels and the ultimate goal should be the normalization of these relations. We believe, however, that this is also in Russia’s interest, as the European Union is one of its largest trading partners and the two sides face common challenges. This was the spirit of the agreement signed in Corfu three decades ago.
Greece is a Member State of the European Union bound by its European obligations. It will continue to emphasize, however, the need to maintain and strengthen dialogue and to create conditions that will allow, in a climate of mutual respect, for the normalization and then – as a second step – for the strengthening of relations between the European Union and Russia. This is the message Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will convey to his counterparts tomorrow.

Thank you very much [in Russian], dear Minister [in English].”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ answer to a question by a Russian journalist

“Thank you for your question. I think we combine two issues that in fact are separate. Firstly, Greece certainly recognizes the certificate of those who have been vaccinated with this specific vaccine, Sputnik. Consequently, anyone who wants to enter Greece with a Sputnik vaccination certificate will not have the slightest problem. Also, in order to be clear about my answer for entering Greece, the alternative would be a test 72 hours prior to entering the country. As I stated before, Greece is ready to welcome its visitors, and there have always been many visitors from Russia.

Now, on the issue of the vaccine, Greece as you know is a member of the EU and it all depends on a decision that will be taken at a European level, which my country will immediately follow. It is obvious that Greece has every incentive to have at its disposal the wider range of vaccines possible. We have no reason or incentive not to use all possibilities to deal with COVID. However, precisely because the issue does not depend on the Hellenic Republic, I am not in the position to give you a specific timetable in this regard.”