Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ statements following his meeting with his Serbian counterpart, Nikola Selaković (Athens, 02.11.2021)

My dear Nikola, welcome to Athens. I am very glad to welcome you here just a few months -although I have to tell you it seems to me as if a long time has passed since then- after my visit to Belgrade.

To begin with, I would like to express publicly as well, on behalf of the Mitsotakis government, our heartfelt thanks to the Serbian government, to President Vučić, to the Serbian people for the assistance you provided us in extinguishing the wildfires during the summer.

That was one more opportunity to strengthen the ties between our societies, between our peoples. Also, I cannot fail to notice the significant increase in tourist arrivals in Greece from Serbia last summer.

Of course, I am stating the obvious. There are historical, there are religious ties between us; Bonds dating back centuries. Both the Greek and Serbian peoples rose up against Ottoman oppression and fought successfully for their freedom two centuries ago.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the modern Greek state, of our independence. And together with Serbia we have always been on the same side of History.

So, we stand today by the people of Serbia, Serbian society, in order for you to become an integral part of the European family because we believe that you belong there.

We believe that governments should heed to this popular sentiment of community shared by our peoples. Our financial relations, dear Nikola, are at a high level. Greek entrepreneurs have invested more than 2.5 billion euros in Serbia.

We are proud that Greek entrepreneurs have created at least 25,000 jobs. And our intention is to approach new opportunities so that there is a mutual benefit and of course to face any challenges that have arisen.