Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis

The minister will be briefing the leaders on issues of national interest, with a focus on Greek-Turkish relations, the Cyprus issue, and the evolving situation in Syria.

The 40-minute working meeting focused on bilateral relations and the good results of recent Positive Agenda and Political Dialogue meetings held in Athens

'We did, indeed, disagree. We disagreed without concessions, without backtracking, without a reduction in sovereignty,' Greek FM George Gerapetritis said in Parliament

Government spokesman made the announcement hours after a portion of Samaras' interview with 'To Vima' was released; former PM called for the foreign minister's firing

In the Vima article, Ex-premier and ND leader Antonis Samaras also calls for the resignation of FM Gerapetritis, saying he's shown appeasement vis-a-vis Turkish provocations

Minister Hakan Fidan cites 'more than one problem' in the Aegean needing resolution; quip aimed at domestic audience comes amid significantly improved relations

The Greek Foreign Minister stressed that the next round of talks, the «positive agenda», issues mainly focusing on low intensity matters, would take place in Athens on December 2-3

Strong effort to keep any dispute between the two sides off the table was made as evident by recent statements by both Gerapetritis and Fidan ahead of Friday's meeting.

VIMAtodotis column cites high-level talks over the progress made to implement a series of recent bilateral agreements signed by Athens and Ankara

The Greek Foreign Minister emphasized the area of connectivity, focusing on energy and transportation, during his statements at the Berlin Western Balkan Summit

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

Greek FM Gerapetritis refers to strict adherence to international pacts such as the Prespa Agreement, during meeting with North Macedonia FM Timcho Mucunski on sidelines of 79th UN General Assembly

Beyond citing 'red lines' dealing with sovereignty, Minister George Gerapetritis added that Athens satisfied with course of rapprochement