Greece remains calm in the face of the challenges it faces in the Eastern Mediterranean, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said in a statement after meeting with his Macedonian counterpart, Boujar Osmani, in Skopje this afternoon.
“We will not succumb to the temptation to respond to the challenges we face in the same way. We have a very basic position: International law and the law of the sea demand respect from all. This is the fundamental rule of the Alliance to which we belong. NATO “, also noted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece.
Mr. Dendias stated that Greece wants and works feverishly for the consolidation of peace, security and stability in the region and believes that the only way to achieve these goals is the clear and full support of the European perspective of the Western Balkans.
“We are absolutely convinced that the accession negotiations between the European Union and Albania and Northern Macedonia must begin immediately. This is the message we are constantly conveying to our European partners,” Dendias said.
In the case of Northern Macedonia, he noted that Greece supports the European perspective of this country, with the well-known conditionality (the observance of good neighborly relations and the implementation of the Prespa Agreement).
Mr. Dendias stated that he discussed with Mr. Osmani the implementation of the Prespa Agreement and noted that Greece looks forward to its full, consistent and good faith implementation. He added that he received assurances from the side of Northern Macedonia “that we are moving in this direction”.
The meeting also focused on further strengthening bilateral relations in all areas, including the economy, trade and energy.
Mr Dendias welcomed the fact that the two countries’ economies are becoming increasingly closely linked and that bilateral trade has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
He also said that Greek investments in Northern Macedonia are in a prominent position and Greece is the third or fourth largest foreign investor.
He stressed the importance of interconnection of electricity networks between the two countries and referred to the interest of a large Greek company to invest more than 200m euros in the construction of an important power plant in Skopje.
For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Northern Macedonia, expressed his satisfaction for the strengthening of trade exchanges between the two countries, which, as he said, are expected to exceed one billion euros this year.
Mr. Osmani stated that the meeting expressed the readiness to further promote the strategic partnership through specific forms of cooperation and commitments, which provides a closer connection between the two countries and the two peoples.
“Such co-operation is a model for the whole region, for how co-operation should be and how open issues between two neighbors will be successfully resolved. In this context, we discussed the fulfillment of the obligations arising from the Prespa Agreement. as well as the impact of the agreement on the overall development of relations and cooperation between Northern Macedonia and Greece “, noted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Northern Macedonia.
During his visit to Skopje, Mr. Dendias also met with the Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, with whom, according to Greek diplomatic sources, he had a fruitful conversation on the prospects of deepening cooperation between the two countries. in the economic and energy sectors. The meeting also discussed the implementation of the Prespa Agreement, the accession process of Northern Macedonia, as well as international and regional developments.
Today’s visit of the Greek Foreign Minister to Skopje is part of his tour of the Western Balkans, the first stop of which was yesterday in Tirana, where he had meetings with the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olta Archbishop of Albania, Anastasios.
This tour of Nikos Dendias in countries of the Western Balkans, takes place in view of the Summit of the Cooperation Process in South-Eastern Europe (formerly Inter-Balkan), in Thessaloniki on June 10.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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