Katrougalos on Greece's diplomatic agenda until the end of the year
Alternative Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos presented the government’s foreign policy agenda to the end of the year, during a regular press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.
Katrougalos outlined the Ministry’s diplomatic highlights in December as follows:
- The NATO Summit commencing on Tuesday, which the Alt. Minister deemed is a crucial one, given the recent developments in Ukraine. He said that Greece supports adherence to international law but stressed that it is important to include Russia in the European security system, as nobody would benefit from a potential escalation. During the Summit, Katrougalos will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu; Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati; FYROM Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
- The Joint Ministerial Committee between Greece and Russia, which will precede Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Russia on Friday. The Committee will sign a series of agreements on issues related to the economy, culture as well as the relationship between the Greek and the Russian people.
- The strategic dialogue between Greece and the US, scheduled to take take place next week in Washington. According to the agenda, talks will center on five pillars, namely defense and security, counterterrorism policies, energy, trade and investments, and strengthening the relations between Greek and US citizens.
The Alt. Minister also announced a series of meetings he will be holding with US officials in the context of the talks, most significantly with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton.
- A series of trilateral and bilateral meetings that will take place on December 17 and 19 involving Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Palestine.
SKOPJE
Regarding the Prespes Agreement, Katrougalos said that the government expects FYROM to fully respect the letter and the spirit of the Prespes Agreement during its ongoing constitutional revision process, and that Greece will insist upon the full adherence to the Agreement's terms.
ALBANIA
On the relations between Greece and Albania, Katrougalos said that the government’s priority is to protect the rights of the Greek minority in Albania.
“We are waiting to see our neighbour’s implementation law relating to minorities, which to us is crucial regarding our national priority… but also with regard to Albania’s European prospect”, Katrougalos said, replying to a question by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
Source: AMNA
