Athens, 9 April 2008

Ms. Bakoyannis: It is a great pleasure to once again welcome my friend, the Foreign Minister of Romania, to Athens.

First of all, I would like to congratulate and thank him in public for the excellent organisation and the warm hospitality that Romanians have shown to all their partners and allies that took part in the NATO Summit in Bucharest.

All of us welcomed the two new countries that were invited to join the Alliance: Croatia and Albania. With regard to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, I would like to express the sincere hope that we will proceed as soon as possible with the implementation of what is provided for in the NATO Summit's joint communiqué, which entails a solution on the name issue and an invitation to join the Alliance.

Beyond that, Mr. Cioroianu and I had the opportunity to discuss the excellent climate in our bilateral relations, all the issues that are of concern to the region, with an emphasis of course on the Kosovo issue. The Greek position is well known and I do not need to repeat myself.

We discussed Serbia’s European perspective and agreed that there should be progress on strengthening its relations with the European Union as soon as possible. I do not need to stress that Greece and Romania will continue their intensive and constructive contacts within the framework of the two countries’ and the two peoples’ traditional friendship.

Greece sees Romania as a very close friend and partner; a friend and partner with whom we cooperate closely, also within the European Union, by exchanging views on issues that will be of concern to us at the Council and on issues of economic cooperation. As you know, Greek investments in Romania and Romania’s economic interest in Greece are substantial.

We have a single, common objective: our two countries’ development and prosperity within a European environment of stability and future prospects. Believe me, these meetings will be frequent in future. Adrian, once again welcome to Athens.

Mr. A. Cioroianu: I would also like to thank the Greek Foreign Minister, Ms. Dora Bakoyannis, and the entire team who have made today’s meeting, and our cooperation and talks, possible.

Today’s meeting is the continuation of good dialogue between our two countries at the level of Foreign Ministries, as well as the diplomatic, government and other levels. As you know, the Hellenic Republic was, and still is, a strong supporter of Romania’s accession, and it is Romania’s partner both at European and Balkan level.

As Ms. Bakoyannis stated herself, we had a very significant discussion on the situation in the Western Balkans, our region in general, but, most of all, the Western Balkans. Both of us agreed that the remaining Balkan countries, the Western Balkans, must be incorporated in European Union institutions because otherwise our region will never be a complete family. This is why we have to work hard in order to strengthen our relations with the other Western Balkan countries.

A key point at our meeting and our talks was Serbia’s role, the role that this country plays in the region of the Balkans. We of course discussed the very sensitive issue of the 11 May elections in Belgrade. We discussed the Kosovo issue, the situation there, and we reached the conclusion that our views are exactly the same.

I would like to point out that I discussed with Ms. Bakoyannis and the team taking part in our talks the issue of the Republic of Moldova, for which we want a smoother and faster course towards EU accession. Another issue in the discussions was of course the NATO summit in Bucharest. I thanked Ms. Bakoyannis for her good remarks on the excellent organisation of the Bucharest Summit, and we are very happy to recognise the Greek Foreign Ministry’s special role in the preparation for the Bucharest Summit; it was of course the outcome – the Summit’s conclusions – that is the most important. We have naturally discussed NATO’s enlargement.

We have of course understood very well the position of the Greek side, the position of Ms. Bakoyannis on a potential invitation to FYROM to join NATO, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. I would like to assure you once again that Romania and the Romanian people have understood Greece's position, and that Greece wants to invite the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to join ΝΑΤΟ but that a mutually acceptable solution must of course be found.   

I discussed with Ms. Bakoyannis reports in the Romanian press on the outcome of the NATO Bucharest Summit. We discussed the conclusion drawn by the Romanian people following all these talks, and that Greece and Athens wish for Skopje to join NATO, that you are not against this Republic, but that a solution, a mutually acceptable solution must first of all be found.

I would like to point out that the Bucharest Summit is a first step on the great course that we expect the Western Balkans to follow towards ΝΑΤΟ accession. This path will be difficult, there will be problems, but we will address them together.

Here, I wanted to say that the Bucharest Summit contributes to the region’s stability, but we must work jointly because the region’s stability is of benefit to all sides, all the countries that are already NATO members; and this is the only way in which we will ensure a European course.

We also discussed other issues relating to the Lisbon policy, the decisions made at the Lisbon Summit. We talked about the prospects of a European Union enlargement to other countries.

We have agreed to continue the dialogue between the two countries, between the two Ministries, in order to be able to find solutions, the right solutions for all the problems that we are facing within the European Union.

In closing, I would like to thank once again Ms. Dora Bakoyannis personally, but also everyone else who helped make this meeting possible today. Thank you.

Journalist: You said that Greece is ready to start negotiations immediately with Skopje within the framework of the UN . Isn’t Greece’s hope that the process will continue at the same pace, and that it will not be influenced by potential early elections and processes?

Ms. Bakoyannis: Listen, Greece has no reason to interfere in domestic political processes within a sovereign country. We want negotiations under Mr. Nimetz to continue within the framework of the United Nations. We are prepared to do this – tomorrow morning if need be – and we are expecting a similar response from Skopje, regardless of its domestic political processes.

Journalist: As we all know, Albania and Croatia have been invited to join NATO. FΥROM did not receive an invitation to join and it is well known to everyone that there is a strong Albanian minority in Skopje. Do you think that this will have an impact on stability in the region of the Republic of Skopje?

Ms. Bakoyannis: No, I don't believe this. I don’t believe that a non-invitation to join NATO at this particular time could have the impact that you meant.

Indeed, there are two major groups within FΥROM, that is, the Slav-Macedonian and the Albanian. I believe that political processes will allow their peaceful coexistence based on European principles and values. However, alliances in the region must be built based on solid foundations, and there can be no solid foundations, when problems from the past haunt the future.

This is why Greece says that we must resolve this issue, we must resolve it now, so that partner and allied relations can be built on the right foundations, and we can walk along each other in the Europe of the future.

Journalist: Because you put emphasis on strengthening regional cooperation, and given that Greece and Bulgaria and Romania have made certain steps on this trilateral cooperation, I would like to know whether there has been a review of the situation, and whether you decided to take any further steps.

Mr. A. Cioroianu: We also discussed it today at the Economist conference that is taking place in Athens. It was very important to us and it made a very good impression that Greece was always a strong supporter of Romania's and Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union.

It was proof of good cooperation between these countries, and it should of course be continued to the benefit of the whole region. I think that the Hellenic Republic’s example, which is trying to help other Balkan countries, should be a very good example for us too, so that we can help other countries to join the European Union. Here, I would like to say that these positions must stand for the Western Balkan countries as well as the Republic of Moldova.

Lately, we have discussed the accession of Croatia, Albania, Serbia in future, and probably FΥROM to NATO and the European Union, but we must understand that ΝΑΤΟ is no longer just a military Alliance: it is a civilian-military Alliance.

And we must remember that all the countries that have joined NATO have taken very quick steps on their course towards EU accession. This is what happened with Romania and Bulgaria. So I think that this political solidarity here in the region has to be preserved, and on this we fortunately have many things in common and many common views on what we should do from now on.

I don’t want to run on, I just want you to know that during these talks, we also discussed the economic aspects of our cooperation, because as you know diplomatic and political relations must always have an economic background.

We are looking forward to the visit to Bucharest of Greece’s Minister of National Economy and Finance on Friday.

Once again, I would like to mention that we must of course follow the example of the Hellenic Republic with regard to solidarity to other countries wishing to join the European Union.

Thank you.