Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ statements following his meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani (Athens, 13. 05. 2022)

Your Excellency,

My dear Abdullatif,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you today in Athens. This is the third time we have met within a few months, following our meeting in Manama last November and your participation in the Philia Forum in Athens, last February. I would also like to say that I had something important to gain each time I met with you.

I would like to make mention of the symbolism of the Philia Forum, which we plan to organize this year as well. I think that this initiative is of significant importance because it builds bridges between the Middle East, the Arab Gulf and Europe, on the basis of shared principles and values.

Our shared principles and values are clear. They are respect for International Law, respect for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as UNCLOS, which both countries, Bahrain and Greece, have ratified and strictly apply.

At the same time, both countries fully condemn the use of force and the threat of the use of force, as set out in the Charter of the United Nations.

Today we had the opportunity -and we will continue during the working lunch- to discuss at length the deepening of the already excellent relations between our two countries.

In this context, we look forward to the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister, Mr. Mitsotakis, to Manama and the signing of a series of Agreements that we are working on together.

These Agreements will create more opportunities to strengthen our economic and trade cooperation in many areas, such as energy, with special emphasis on renewable energy sources, but also on tourism, digital governance, and the financial sector.

I would also like to mention the cooperation between our two Ministries, the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs, regarding the reforms we need to make in our services.

We have made spectacular steps in deepening this collaboration and I would like to thank you very much for that. I think this would not have been achieved without your absolute personal commitment to this goal.

I would like, however, to deepen this cooperation even more, to expand it within the International Organizations, where we have already achieved a lot. We have in common a candidacy for the Security Council – ours is for the 2025–26 term and yours for 2026-2027- but also a candidacy for the Human Rights Council and that is extremely important.

At this point, you will allow me to open a short parenthesis. This morning I had an extensive- more than an hour- and constructive conversation with our Chinese counterpart, Mr. Wang Yi.

I’m saying this because I want to emphasize that Greece maintains open channels of communication with everyone and, of course, with all the members of the United Nations Security Council and, consequently, our cooperation on this can assume a very important aspect.

I would also like to emphasize that, in addition to the United Nations, namely the Security Council and the Human Rights Council, we work together within regional organizations as well. Both our countries support principled positions always based on international legality.

For example, I should highlight and I would like to thank you very much for Bahrain’s support to Greece within UNESCO, as well as for Bahrain’s position on the issue of the conversion of Hagia Sophia, a world cultural Heritage Site, into a mosque.

Greece also wants to deepen its cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council, an Organization that you are very familiar with, as you had been its Secretary General for many years.

Within our own family, the European Union, we will continue to work in order to strengthen ties with all the Gulf States. And I’m saying “all” to make our view clear, that there should be no exceptions, there should be no preferences.

And, in fact, there should be no exceptions or preferences that are not based on principles, because for us, Bahrain is a friendly country that deserves the EU’s support.

Today, we will also discuss the developments in the wider region and during the working lunch I will inform you about the issues concerning the Aegean, the challenges we face, the overflights over our islands, at a time when humanity is focused on Ukraine.

During lunch, I would also like us to talk in brief about Jerusalem and the West Bank, because we do not want a resurgence of tensions in this sensitive area. This will harm everyone.

I would like to thank you very much for the update you have been kind enough to give me so far and to publicly express my desire to visit the Gulf region, and especially Bahrain, very soon.

I would like to repeat publicly – as I also said that during the meeting with our delegations- that it is the most people-friendly country in a rapidly developing neighborhood, it is a place where every Greek feels completely at home and that has to do with the feelings of the population, of your society towards us. This is notably attributed to the King, whose warm feelings for Greece, His Majesty’s warm feelings towards Greece, I had the opportunity to experience myself during my last visit.

Once again, I would like to welcome you to Athens, to thank you for your visit, to thank you for bringing your wife along with you-we would like you to get to know us- and to thank you very much for our warm and constructive dialogue.

Welcome to Athens.