Athens
, 4 May 2007
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Good morning.
Today the Foreign Minister will give a welcoming speech at the 6th Meeting of Mediterranean MPs on sustainable development. This Meeting is being held in Corfu under the chairmanship of Greek MP Mr. Nikos Georgiadis. MPs from all of the Mediterranean countries, as well as representatives of international organizations, will participate in this Meeting.
On Monday, 7 May, at 10:45, Foreign Minister Ms. Bakoyannis will meet, at his request, with the Speaker of the Cypriot House of Representatives, Mr. Christofias, who will be on a private visit to our country.
On the same day, at 13:30, Ms. Bakoyannis will hold a press conference in Seferis Hall marking the official celebration of 35 years of diplomatic relations between Greece and China. Within this framework, I remind you that on Tuesday, 8 May, through 13 May, Foreign Minister Ms. Bakoyannis will carry out an official visit to China, accompanied by a significant business delegation.
Greek-Chinese relations are traditionally excellent and have entered into a course of dynamic development in all sectors in recent years. This is a fact that it is apparent from the frequent exchange of high-level visits between the two countries.
I remind you that Prime Minister Mr. Karamanlis carried out a visit to China that initiated further strengthening of relations on all levels, and particularly in the economic sector. The volume of our bilateral trade with China has more than doubled in recent years to over $1 billion, and the prospects for further development are excellent in all sectors.
It’s also worth pointing out our cooperation in the cultural and educational sectors. It is significant that this very good cooperation coincides this year with the holding of the cultural year of Greece in China and the hosting of the Olympic Games in China in 2008.
Specifically with regard to the Minister’s visit, this visit will begin in Shanghai on 8 May, where, among other things, Ms. Bakoyannis will attend the proceedings of the Sino-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce and meet with the Mayor of Shanghai.
In Beijing, where she will be the following four days, Ms. Bakoyannis will, inter alia, have meetings with her Chinese counterpart, Mr. Yang Jiechi, with whom she will sign a Cooperation Protocol between the two Ministries. This will be followed by a meeting with the Prime Minister of the country, Wen Jiabao, and the President of the Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games, Mr Liu Qui. And finally, she will have a meeting with the State Councilor for culture and educational relations, Ms. Chen Zhili.
Ms. Bakoyannis will also address a special event being hosted by Beijing University and will visit the Olympic facilities. She will also participate in a number of activities of the business delegation.
In Beijing, on 11 May, the Foreign Minister will attend the special concert being hosted in the Forbidden City on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Greek-Chinese diplomatic relations. You will be given further information on this event at the press conference that, as I said, is to take place on Monday.
Immediately following the trip to China, Ms. Bakoyannis will travel to Brussels, where, on Monday, 14 May, she will participate in the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council. That’s it regarding the Foreign Minister’s activities.
Regarding the activities of the Deputy Foreign Ministers, on Tuesday, 8 May, Mr. Valinakis will be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to represent our country at the proceedings of the 17th Ministerial Meeting between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
On Thursday, 10 May, Mr. Valinakis will represent the country at the proceedings of the meeting of SEECP Foreign Ministers. This meeting will take place in Zagreb, Croatia; as you know, Croatia currently holds the chairmanship of the SEECP.
Today, Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Stylianidis will meet with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina, at the Foreign Ministry. I remind you that a very significant portion of the Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans concerns Bosnia-Herzegovina.
From Monday, 7 May, through Saturday, 12 May, Mr. Stylianidis will accompany the Foreign Minister on her official visit to China.
On Monday, 7 May, Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Kassimis will meet with the Premier of South Australia, Mr. Mike Rann, at the Foreign Ministry. Mr. Rann is carrying out an official visit to Greece from 5 to 8 May, at the invitation of the Greek government.
And of course, Mr. Kassimis, by virtue of his competencies, will participate actively in the preparations for the state visit that Prime Minister Mr. Karamanlis is to carry out to Australia.
On another issue. The International Symposium on the implementation of UN sanctions that took place at UN headquarters, on a Greek initiative, was particularly successful. It was participated in by the Secretary General and all the members of the UN.
This Symposium is a follow-up to three previous international initiatives undertaken by Switzerland, Germany and Sweden on the same subject; that is, improvement of the effectiveness of sanctions.
This Symposium was opened by the new UN Secretary General – for the first time – who praised Greece’s role as the chair of the Sanctions Committee on Sudan and Cote d’Ivoire, as well as of the Working Group, during our country’s term on the Security Council.
I would like to mention specifically here that Mr. Ban ki-Moon stressed that successful Greek handling led to the adoption of recommendations for improving the effectiveness of sanctions; recommendations that were incorporated into Security Council Resolution 1732.
Finally, Greece was elected to the Group of Small Donors on the Donor Committee of the International Fund for the reconstruction of Iraq. Twenty-one donor countries participate in this committee.
That’s it for announcements. Your questions, please.
Mr. Gilson: I have two questions. The first concerns the Minister’s visit to China. Whether you can tell us anything more about the Cooperation Protocol between the two Ministries that will be signed there, and whether the Kosovo issue will be discussed, given that China is a permanent member of the Security Council.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I don’t have the agenda with me at this time. They will discuss issues concerning bilateral relations and, of course, all the international problems. It is reasonable that the Kosovo issue will be one of the issues that might be raised during the talks.
Regarding the Cooperation Protocol of the two Ministries, at this time I don’t have any further information. I’ll come back to this.
Mr. Gilson: That’s the first question. The second is this: Whether the Foreign Ministry intends to submit any protest to the American government regarding the fact that for the first time in the CIA’s World Fact Book the entry for Greece states that the population of Greece is 98% Greek and 2% Turkish and other. In previous years the Fact Book stated that Greece was 98% Greek and 2% other.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I understand your question. Don’t wear yourself out for a one-word answer. The Foreign Ministry has taken a very clear position; in my statement that was issued on the same day as the report in question.
Mr. Gilson: Will there be a protest, or not?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I think that the statement that has been made is very clear.
Mr. Santamouris: Judging from developments in Turkey, we see that Turkey is not complying with criteria that it is under obligation to implement if it is to accede. Does Greek diplomacy consider this to be a “threat” to the Greek strategy of the last 10 years, which is based on the Europeanization of problems with Turkey?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: We think that the policy that has been followed by Greece in recent years regarding Turkey’s course toward Europe is the correct policy. A European and democratic Turkey is in the interests of stability and economic development throughout the region.
We have also repeatedly said that this path is long and thorny. But this does not mean that Greece’s strategic pursuit of a European and democratic neighborhood is being called into question.
We are, of course, monitoring the recent events very closely. We are studying them in depth and evaluating them correspondingly.
Mr. Santamouris: My second question. In an interview with the Minister published today in the newspaper “Friday+13”, Ms. Bakoyannis was asked whether there are direct talks between the two states, and it was a question she did not answer.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Two states? What do you mean? Turkey and Greece?
Mr. Santamouris: No, between Greece and FYROM. She doesn’t answer on this point. Are there such direct talks, beyond the UN process?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I don’t think the Foreign Minister’s answers leave any doubt as to what is happening. You know that the name issue is the subject of consultations within the framework of the UN, with a mandate from the UN Security Council, and this is indicative of the dimensions of this issue. Within the framework of this process, the consultations are continuing at the pace determined and allowed for by their own momentum. I have nothing further to say on that.
Mr. Vitalis: I would like to ask something further, given my colleague’s question. Is there a possibility – has anything been tabled concerning this – of the talks on the Skopje name issue being moved from UN headquarters and being carried out in Greece and in Skopje, respectively? I ask this because there were a number of items in the Skopje press in recent days on this issue.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I have the impression that a similar question has been asked before, and at that time I was able – and I will repeat this today – to say that there are certain new elements, of a practical rather than political nature, that may have to be taken under consideration regarding the purely practical issue of the existing process, which remains unchanged.
These are that Mr. Vasilakis, who has been participating all these years in the UN process, is approaching the end of his term as Greece’s Permanent Representative to the UN, and that Mr. Vasilakis’ collocutor from the Skopje side has for some time now completed his term as the FYROM’s Ambassador to Washington.
These are two developments of a purely practical nature, and I don’t know where they might lead. And I stress again: the practical dimension. There is no political dimension to these issues. At this time I don’t have anything specific to tell you; I have no information in the direction of your question.
Ms. Karaviti: As you said that you are evaluating all the developments in Turkey, I would like to know how the Foreign Ministry assesses the role of the Army in the current developments.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: In all the agreed-upon European texts, which were shaped in common by all the member states, including Greece, special reference is made to military-political relations. Beyond that, the statements that have been made by the Foreign Minister regarding the developments in Turkey are in full effect, and I’ll stand on them.
Mr. Fourlis: Do you think that domestic political developments in Turkey might lead it to export its political problem with Greece?
Ms. Fryssa: Yes. Are you worried that Turkey might create some crisis?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I don’t believe in jumping to conclusions. In any case, I don’t believe that a domestic political tug-of-war should either lead to or serve as an alibi for actions that might cultivate a climate of tension. Greece is following its strategic pursuit of good neighbourly relations with resolve and sobriety, based on respect for international law and international treaties.
Mr. Mavridis: Mr. Spokesman, when you answer that it is an issue of a procedural nature and that you don’t know where it will lead, aren’t you creating the sense that there might be a change in the process?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: No. I repeat that there are two developments of a practical nature – I mentioned them – regarding the two collocutors. The ‘day after’ hasn’t been discussed yet. For example, I don’t know whether Ambassador Mr. Vasilakis will be replaced and by whom he will be replaced in the overall process.
Ms. Nikolaou: I would like to come back to Ms. Bakoyannis’ visit to China. I would like to ask whether the Minister is considering asking China for some initiative on the Cyprus issue, given Beijing’s role in the Security Council.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I’m not aware of any such thing.
Mr. Santamouris: I would like to ask whether you can tell us anything that was discussed regarding Skopje’s accession to NATO at the recent meeting, within the framework of the discussion on enlargement. I would like you to repeat, if possible, the part of your answer to my question as to whether direct talks are taking place between Athens and Skopje.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: No, direct talks are not taking place.
Mr. Santamouris: While we’re on the subject, what is China’s position on the Skopje name issue?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Ask the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Athens about that. As for the discussion regarding the possible accession of FYROM to NATO, the positions and views have already appeared in the press. I have nothing to add to those.
Thank you very much.