I’m in Dubrovnik today. In addition to the meeting I am having with my Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlić-Radman, I also met with the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), Nasser Kamel.
In the context of the Forum, I will also have the opportunity to express the firm Greek positions on the future of the Western Balkans, on the need for their accelerated accession perspective, on the enormous challenges that are being created in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But also, the Greek views on the absolute unacceptability of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the tremendous difficulties it sets in our societies, as well as on the need for stability and implementation of International Law, and especially the International Law of the Sea, in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The environmental dimension is another particularly interesting aspect of the Dubrovnik Forum; that is, the effort to protect the environment and the Mediterranean in particular, the sea that surrounds us all, the sea that constitutes a special feature of our homeland, Greece.
In this regard, the meeting with the Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean was of particular interest, because we discussed how we can present Greek views on the environment in the context of COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh. But also, how we can present the international conference”Our Ocean Conference”, an initiative by the US former Secretary of State and current Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, which Greece has undertaken to host in 2024.
Therefore, we are very interested in demonstrating the environmental dimension of our initiatives. I should also mention that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is particularly sensitive when it comes to the issue of plastics in the seas, and the need to rid our seas of this massive pollution.