Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday on the sidelines of the 79th General Assembly in NYC, a day before the former addresses the body.
During the meeting, Athens’ priorities for its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council were discussed, with Mitsotakis stressing that Greece wants to be a bridge between the south and the south, west and east, given its status as an EU and NATO member-state who’s in contact with the global south.
He also reiterated his appreciation for the Secretary-General’s efforts to restart Cyprus talks, and that every opportunity for a solution to the Cyprus problem, on the basis of the UNSC resolutions, should be exploited.
In a related development, the foreign ministers of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia – all EU member-states – met in New York City on Thursday on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly for talks revolving over progress of western Balkan states’ towards EU integration and the Union’s role in embellishing stability in the region.
Greece’s George Gerapetritis joined Bulgaria’s Ivan Kondov, Romania FM Luminita Odobescu and Croatia’s Gordan Grlić-Radman for talks that also included power connection projects and investments.
The EU’s role as a stabilizing force and driver of economic growth in the region was the focus of a working lunch with the foreign ministers of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP).
Discussions touched on SEECP members seeking EU membership, especially western Balkan states and Moldova.
Gerapetritis reminded of Athens unwavering support for the EU integration of all the Balkans, while qualifying that candidate states must demonstrate a necessary commitment to reforms and assurance of the rule of law, human rights, anti-corruption efforts and alignment with the EU’s acquis.
