Dear Hadja, bienvenue à Athènes.
I’d like to express our great pleasure to have you here today. But I have to extend, on behalf of the Greek government, our sincere condolences for the loss of a police officer who was killed in the line of duty in your country last night.
I want to highlight that the First World War, the bloodiest war in human history to that point, ended 104 years ago today on the 11th hour, the 11th day, and the 11th month.
A war in which Greece and Belgium were on the same side, just as they were in World War II. And that is why Belgium signed, together with Greece, the Treaty of Peace with Italy in 1947, known as the ‘Treaty of Paris’.
Under this Treaty the Dodecanese islands were ceded to Greece – I’m saying this because it links us to Belgium, along with other historical ties.
Our bilateral relations with Belgium have been upgraded after several years. We exchanged bilateral visits with your predecessor, Sophie Wilmès, last year, and we had the great pleasure and honor of welcoming the King and Queen of Belgium here in Athens a few months ago.
Today we had a further opportunity to discuss our bilateral relations and how to deepen them.
Thank you very much for stopping in Athens on your way to Sharm El Sheikh and COP 27.
We discussed our cooperation in the European Union.
We addressed our cooperation within NATO, and our cooperation within the United Nations, where we have mutual support for our candidacies to the Security Council; Greece for the 2025 – 2026 term, and Belgium for the 2036 – 2037 term.
On this occasion, I’d like to congratulate you on Belgium’s recent election to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term, an election that we also strongly supported.
We discussed our economic relations, and we both agreed that we can do a lot more. Belgium is an important economy within the European Union.
In this regard, I’d also like to thank you because Greece is a popular holiday destination for Belgians. This year’s upward trend has been very significant.
We also discussed our cooperation in the energy sector, specifically renewable energy. I am informed that Belgium has excellent expertise in floating energy production.
I also informed you about our perspectives on Greece becoming a gas and energy transport hub in the Balkans and Central Europe.
There are countless things for which I would like to express my gratitude, including the teaching of the Greek language at universities and schools in Belgium as well as for the role played by the Belgian School of Athens.
At this point, I’d like to mention a recent initiative of the Belgian Embassy in Athens, in collaboration with the Municipality of Korydallos, regarding a mural on the subject of environmental protection painted by a young Belgian artist in the Korydallos High School, which is very timely considering that you are going to the Climate Change Summit in Sharm El Sheikh.
Today, we also discussed in depth the major challenges our region faces. First of all, the issues raised by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In the name of our European principles, both our countries stood up to this illegality.
We also talked about the Middle East and the need for initiatives to be taken by the European Union. The European Union cannot afford to be absent from the Middle East.
We discussed Africa and the major problems that exist on the African continent. You were kind enough to brief me on the issues in the Great Lakes region and I believe we both agreed that the European Union needs to take a much more active role.
I informed you of my visits to Africa and Greece’s absolute willingness to help, in whatever way, with whatever resources it possesses, to the greatest extent possible, because we have always agreed that the Mediterranean is not only a border, but also a bridge.
And if we do not address the problems that come from Africa at their root, these problems will simply come knocking at our door.
I also had the opportunity to brief you extensively on the problems that my country faces from Turkey, its provocative conduct, and provocative claims, on the casus belli, as well as on the islands of the Eastern Aegean.
And I’d like to thank you for the principled position that Belgium has taken both in the bilateral context, and within the European Union, NATO, and the United Nations.
To conclude, Greece regards Belgium as an important country with which it can further develop channels of communication and a shared understanding of the enormous problems we face.
In this regard, bilateral contacts are absolutely essential. I would, therefore, like to thank you warmly for your presence in Athens today.