Athens
, 12 February 2009
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Good morning.
A few words regarding the Minister’s schedule. On Tuesday, 17 February – at 12:30 – Foreign Minister Ms. Dora Bakoyannis will take part in Prime Minister Karamanlis’ talks with the President of Azerbaijan, at the Maximos Mansion.
On Wednesday, 18 February, Ms. Bakoyannis will meet at the Foreign Ministry with the Democratic Senator from Illinois, Mr. Richard Durbin, and Illinois State Treasurer Mr. Alexi Giannoulias. That meeting will take place at 11:30.
At 12:30 on the same day, Ms. Bakoyannis will receive Mr. Barciela, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, at the Foreign Ministry, and at 13:00 she will receive the new Secretary General of AKEL, Mr. Andros Kyprianou.
Later that day, 18 February, Ms. Bakoyannis will depart for Vienna, where the Winter Meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly will take place on 19 and 20 February. She will open the proceedings, as the Chairperson of the OSCE.
The delegation of Greek MPs to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is headed by New Democracy MP Mr. Skandalakis and includes 6 other Greek MPs.
Mr. Pangalos will also be participating as the Chairman of the WEU Assembly’s Political Committee.
Finally, on Friday, 20 February, at 09:30, Ms. Bakoyannis will meet with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mr. ElBaradei, at IAEA headquarters in Vienna. This meeting still needs to be confirmed. It has been scheduled, but it has not been finalised yet.
Let me say that the OSCE Fall Meeting is scheduled to take place in Athens this year, on 9 and 12 October.
This coming Monday, 16 February, Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Yannis Valinakis will meet with the Speaker of the Chilean Parliament. On Tuesday and Wednesday, 17 and 18 February, he will hold meetings in Brussels with members of the European Commission and the European Parliament.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Miltiadis Varvitsiotis will meet today, at 14:00, with the President and Board of Directors of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises. Tomorrow, he will participate in the proceedings of the International Conference on Strategic Development in the Adriatic and Ionian, which is being held in Corfu. And finally, on Monday, 16 February, he will receive the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Athens.
At 12:00 today, Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Kassimis will attend the ceremony for the presentation of credentials to the President of the Hellenic Republic by the new Ambassadors from Colombia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, New Zealand, Honduras, Oman and Tanzania.
That’s it for the activities of the Ministry’s political leadership.
I want to notify you of a positive development within the framework of the OSCE. Earlier today, the 56 participating states agreed – and as you know, decisions are taken unanimously – to extend through 30 June the presence of unarmed military observers of the Organization in Georgia.
This is a positive development, because it was not at all certain that we would get this decision, given – as I said – that unanimity is required. I just want to clarify that this development is unrelated to the mandate for the extension of the OSCE mission to Georgia, which expired on 31 December. This is another decision.
Your questions, please.
Mr. Santamouris: What level does the Fall Meeting of the OSCE take place on?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: It is a Parliamentary Assembly Meeting. There are two Meetings, one in winter, one in the fall. The major, central meeting of the OSCE General Assembly will take place in March, in Vilnius. The Fall Meeting will take place in Athens on the dates I gave you.
Mr. Santamouris: The second question is, is there any discussion on the OSCE table regarding observers in Ossetia, separately. And also, whether you can give us an idea of what will be discussed with the President of Azerbaijan.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: With regard to the President of Azerbaijan, it is a visit and a meeting on the level of Prime Ministers. It is not within my competencies to give you further information on that.
The discussion taking place at the OSCE does not concern new observer missions. These are two different issues. The first concerns unarmed military observers, and the second the presence of the OSCE mission in Georgia. The latter matter is pending, and, as you know, there is a compromise proposal from the Greek Chairmanship on the table.
Mr. Athanassopoulos: I want a clarification regarding Georgia, as well. You said an extension of the presence of unarmed observers in Georgia.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Unarmed military observers.
Mr. Athanassopoulos: Right. Based in Tbilisi?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: The military observers were sent to Georgia last August, with a six-month mandate expiring on 18 February. They are deployed in regions neighbouring South Ossetia. This mandate was renewed today, through 30 June 2009.
Mr. Athanassopoulos: Just a minute. The OSCE Mission, whose mandate expired officially on 31 December, has been informally extended to 31 March.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: At this time, the mission is in the process of technical closure through 30 June – the same date the mandate of the military observers was extended to.
Mr. Athanassopoulos: Do the unarmed military observers report to the mission supposedly being shut down, or directly to Vienna?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I’ll have to look into this particular matter and let you know.
(They report to OSCE Mission in Tbilisi.)
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Can you tell us now what is on the agenda for the Minister’s talks with the heads of the U.S. delegation?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Before I refer to the agenda for the talks, in answering your question, I would like to put this visit in its proper perspective. Because there have been various items in the press on this visit. I am referring, for example, to the report that this visit is a kind of special mission that is bringing some special message from President Obama to our country. So let’s put this in its proper proportions, without exaggeration. It is clearly an interesting and important visit that is taking place very soon after the new U.S. administration came to office. And this has its significance. But this visit should be viewed in the right scale.
Matters of mutual interest – international, regional and bilateral issues – will be discussed. And – given that this is an informative meeting, we will raise all the issues that you imagine might be raised, but that have to do not only with issues of purely Greek interest – like the Cyprus issue, Greece’s views and positions on the Balkan region, on relations with neighbouring countries, etc. We will also raise issues like the Middle East, etc.
Ms. Nikolaou: A clarification. Will the U.S. officials have other meetings – perhaps with the Prime Minister, as was reported?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I don’t know that. That will be announced by the Prime Minister’s office. I can only refer to what I know: the meeting that has been set and finalized with the Foreign Minister for Wednesday, 18 February. I imagine the other meetings will be announced when they have been finalized.
Mr. Papathanasiou: Do you agree with the view expressed in certain camps in the media that Athens is anxiously awaiting some message from the American side? Is Athens really expecting a message? And how? So that we can put things in their proper perspective. There really was the impression that Athens is anxiously awaiting messages from the American side regarding the beginning of a new relationship. Is that really how things are?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I haven’t observed any anxiousness. Relations between the two states are developing at a normal pace. We have a new administration that took office only recently. It is useful and advisable to have an in-depth discussion and exchange of views on all levels at the soonest possible time.
And it is of course positive for this to happen fast. That is, when the initial perceptions, priorities of a new administration are being shaped. Beyond that, there is nothing urgent or pressing.
Mr. Kapoutsis: Is the visit of U.S. senators being organised by the U.S. Congress, is it part of protocol visits to the Parliaments of friendly and allied countries? Is it organised by another institution, by the Foreign Ministry or the White House? Who is organising the visit of U.S. senators to Greece?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: To be honest, I haven't concerned myself with such details on the issue that you mentioned because it is not unusual for senators to visit different regions and states, as part of smaller or larger groups. This is normal practice. I don’t see why we should make too much of things that are quite normal.
Mr. Kapoutsis: Let me explain then that it is another thing for senators to come as members of Congress, and it is another thing for them to come and convey a message as representatives of the U.S. Administration. These are two different things.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Thanks for the explanation, but I think that it is clear from what I told you that there is no special representation or anything else out of the ordinary.
Mr. Santamouris: The U.S. international mission that has been announced, is it Mr. Holbrooke’s mission to Afghanistan…
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: They are special personal envoys…
Mr. Santamouris: The Middle East envoy and those who are visiting Greece. Are you aware of similar missions in other regions of major U.S. interest, and if not, do you think that this is an indication of a change in U.S. interest in the region? Is it growing, is it diminishing? Given that they will be visiting Turkey and Cyprus..
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: Not being the State Department spokesperson, it is not my place to speak about the missions of U.S. representatives. This particular visit to our country has no relation to the duties undertaken by Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Holbrooke. Just to avoid confusion between unrelated things.
Mr. Santamouris: Excuse me, because I might have been misunderstood, I distinguished between them..
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I didn’t realise that. If you made the distinction, it is my fault, I didn’t realise it.
Mr. Santamouris: I didn’t say they were the same, I made a distinction. I said: There’s Mr. Holbrooke, there's the mission to the Middle East, and then there’s this.
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: This is a visit, it’s not “and then there’s this”. As far as I know, there will also be meetings and a visit to Cyprus, to Nicosia, Athens, and to two Turkish cities, Ankara and Istanbul. There is an interest in this region and it’s a good thing. This is a positive dimension and it should be pointed out. We note this, but nothing more.
Mr. Papathanassiou: Does the Greek Embassy in Washington regard the Senator as an envoy of President Obama?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: I’ve already answered this question. No, I am not aware of such a thing.
Mr. Santamouris: Is there something new, something to announce on the Minister’s visit to the U.S.?
Mr. G. Koumoutsakos: The Foreign Minister will visit the United States in her capacity as both OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the moment, a meeting between Ms. Bakoyannis and U.S. Secretary of State Ms. Hillary Clinton has been scheduled for the 25th of this month. We will announce other elements of this programme and the visits to be held as soon as they are finalised.
Thank you and good afternoon.