On the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly, I had the opportunity today to meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Gambia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Gabon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica; of course, with Nikos Christodoulides, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, and with the President of the United Nations General Assembly and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives.
These meetings are part of a Greek Diplomacy strategy of contacts with countries with which Greece either shares a common understanding of things, such as with Costa Rica regarding the Law of the Sea, or faces common challenges that must be addressed. The countries of sub-Saharan Africa and West Africa are countries facing major problems. They are countries that are situated close to the Sahel region, that is, an area of transit for migrants, where security threats are arising. In this sense, keeping continuous contacts with them and jointly addressing problems regarding security and climate change are issues that concern both the European Union and, of course, Greece.