Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ address at the Dubrovnik Forum 2022 and the panel discussion “Decision Time in Europe’s “Soft Underbelly”… and Beyond” (Dubrovnik, 09.07.2022)

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to thank our gracious host, Gordan. For me it is a great pleasure to be again in Dubrovnik. It is my second time here, but I think I am beginning a tradition of the Greek diplomacy to be present here, on this very important forum on understanding the Balkans, the challenges, what we are facing. And also arrive together, by talking, to common grounds on how we can move forward.

Of course, this year this Forum takes place under the very dark cloud of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And I have to say, what this teaches us all is the need to align ourselves, everybody, behind International Law. Against revisionism, against any kind of effort to change borders through force, against war.

But, having said that, I think we are in the right place to speak about this. Why? Because Dubrovnik, being a very beautiful architecturally city and a perfect example of the world city in the Adriatic, a UNESCO protected monument, at the same time is a success story. A city destroyed by war and reconstructed in a perfect way. If you go around Dubrovnik today, you would have never thought that some years ago war was raging around here. Anyway yet again, the city is a proud success story and I am so happy to be here.

And this is the perfect place also to address the challenges of the Western Balkans. Because Bosnia and Herzegovina -Gordan talked about it and I am sure the rest of the speakers are going to address it- is a challenge for all of us. And we’d all love for Bosnia and Herzegovina to become a success story. But we all know that potentially it is a powder keg. And also we all know that some sort of electoral reform is needed in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to address the challenges of today. Also, the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue is something that has to be helped, as much as we can.

Speaking of the EU enlargement process in the Western Balkans, Greece was lucky enough to be the first country of the region, the first Balkan country to join the EU. And we feel we have fulfilled our obligation as far as the Eastern Balkans are concerned: Romania, Bulgaria. But the Western Balkans also need the help of Greece, Croatia and the other members to fulfil their European future.

And I am here to advocate, as we are advocating everywhere, that we have to start the negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia yesterday, not tomorrow, this is long overdue. And also the fact that we have new candidacies, such as Ukraine. But this should not allow us to forget how important it is for Albania and for North Macedonia to start this process. It’s a journey, it will not be an easy journey for them, but we need to show to them that the EU is able to fulfil its promises. And there are other promises that have to be fulfilled, for example the Kosovo EU visa liberalisation, which we have not fulfilled.

So, the EU has to be much more present in the Western Balkans. We have also to look into creating more interconnectivity between us in all sorts of ways: transport, we need more ways to connect us. I mean, right now, if you start from Trieste and drive down the Adriatic you cannot end up in Mani, which is the Southern end point of mainland Greece, easily. We should have a highway that connects everybody. But also, energy interconnectivity. What is happening after the Russian invasion in the energy market shows very clearly how energy interconnectivity is of the essence. My Prime Minister, Prime Minister Mitsotakis was just yesterday in Thrace inaugurating the IGB, the interconnector with Bulgaria, but we need more projects. More projects that would put us all in a common grid.

I have to say that one thing is clear: through connectivity and cooperation we can build such a bright future for our region. And, I have to say, we should all try to work on this, because this would benefit everybody. This is obviously a win-win project. And what better place to see it clearly than here in Dubrovnik watching the lovely Adriatic Sea.

Thank you so much.