Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ statement on ERT TV and the Gabonese television, following his meeting with the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba (Libreville, 26.11.2021)

Today I had the honour to be received by the President of Gabon, here at the Presidential Palace. It was a great pleasure and a great opportunity for me, since I am the first Greek Foreign Minister to visit this country.

We had a very interesting discussion on the areas of cooperation between Gabon and Greece. First of all, on issues of the Law of the Sea and the safety of maritime transport, on issues of environmental protection, in which Gabon is particularly active. It has a lot of forests, which it protects, and a huge population of elephants, which it also protects; but also on issues of investment and aid from the part of Greece to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. As is known, we donated 200,000 vaccines from Greece.

Finally, I submitted to the President an invitation from the President of the Hellenic Republic, Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou, to visit us in Greece. And I must tell you that there was a surprise waiting for me; because the President has visited my birthplace, Corfu and Paxos, a few years ago with his family. So we hope to see him again.

Relations between Greece and Gabon are developing relations. However, there exists a particularly interesting and fertile common ground to develop these relations, whether it be environmental protection, maritime safety or investment. Also, we should not lose sight of the fact that Gabon will soon be a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it has been elected, and it will take over from 2022. Greece supported this election. And at this level, the level of international legality and the Law of the Sea, there is huge scope for cooperation.