“We remain firm in protecting our interests, on the basis of international law, international law of the sea and the UN Charter,” he said.
For “Unprecedented escalation of revisionist rhetoric and threats” against Greece by Turkey Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias briefed his Serbian counterpart Nikola Selakovic during his visit to Belgrade.
The statements of the Greek Foreign Minister after the meeting he had with the head of the Serbian diplomacy are more detailed:
Dear Nikola,
Thank you very much for your kind words. I am very happy to be back in Belgrade. This is my third visit and that speaks for itself. I had the opportunity to welcome you in Athens last November. I hope to see you again soon at the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit in Thessaloniki. My Prime Minister, Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis, was here last February, just as President Vučić was in Alexandroupolis a few days ago.
Therefore, these very close contacts testify to our cordial, deep and long-term bilateral relations.
I am here today, as part of my tour of the Western Balkans, in view of the Summit of the South East European Cooperation Process to be held next week in Thessaloniki. A Summit, almost 20 years after the EU Summit in Thessaloniki, during which Greece launched the agenda for the Western Balkans.
And this is the main message I convey to all my interlocutors, that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the European Union. I have to be honest with you. I understand that there is fatigue and frustration with this very slow pace of the accession process in the Western Balkans, and the same goes for Serbia, a dear, friendly country.
Let me be clear though. We believe that this is the only way to peace, stability and prosperity in our region. And I must say that our region must stay away from false promises, we must address the issue of the revisionist forces that want to take our region back in time, in order to revive old empires and try to redesign the map of the Balkans. We can not allow this to happen.
In this context, I would like to make three points.
Firstly, Greece is here to provide support, both political and, if necessary, at a technical level, in order to bring Serbia even closer to the EU. Serbia is a key partner of the EU. We recognize your reform efforts and urge you to continue them, in the fundamental areas of the European Acquis, as well as to align with the decisions of the EU Foreign Policy.
The second point concerns our whole region, which must look to a common future and not to the past. We have to face the challenges we face and in this context we have discussed many issues today. We talked about the Open Balkans, something that interests us. I must tell you that we also discussed this issue with Prime Minister Rama in Tirana a few days ago.
We also discussed Kosovo and I reiterated our position on this as well as the need to make progress on this issue as well, as you said, in order to reach a comprehensive, legally binding agreement in accordance with International Law and the EU acquis. We also talked about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where I was a few days ago. I want to repeat here today what I said in Sarajevo, that changing borders is not the way forward. We must strive to help, we must overcome differences and work together to bring peace to our common future. Finally, it is equally important that we strive to build regional stability and prosperity in order to strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation.
Greece remains committed to further strengthening bilateral ties with its traditional friend, Serbia.
Serbia is an important partner for the Greek business community. Our private sector has invested almost 3 billion euros in Serbia. We are proud because Greek companies have created 25,000 jobs in your country, and let’s hope that they will become more. As we emerge from an economic crisis, from a pandemic, and, we hope, soon from the crisis in Ukraine, the invasion of Ukraine. We will need to invest more in Serbia, which will help both it and us to develop and expand our ties.
We welcome Serbia’s intention to open a Tourism Office in Athens. In fact, Greece remains one of the main, if not the main, tourist destination for Serbs, and this also applies to my particular homeland, Corfu, which I know how dear it is to the Serbian people.
We also discussed interconnection in the field of transport and supply. We talked about the Pan-European Corridor X and the railway connection Piraeus-Skopje-Belgrade-Central Europe.
The issue of energy cooperation, which you also raised, is another area where there are prospects for our region. The inauguration of the Alexandroupolis Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU), attended by President Vučić, is an important step towards regional energy cooperation.
Our military cooperation is mutually beneficial.
We also discussed today how we can further cooperate in international organizations. And I have to thank you publicly for your support in our candidacy for election to the UN Security Council. Thank you very much.
We also discussed the prospects of multilateral schemes that, as you said, include Cyprus, but also other countries, such as Northern Macedonia.
I have to say that this could be a way of cultivating closer relationships.
I also informed [τον Nikola], for the unprecedented escalation of the revisionist rhetoric and the threats we face from our neighbor, Turkey. And I underlined the quality difference, since Turkey has publicly and repeatedly stated that it wants to cut all ties with Greece. And he openly challenges Greek sovereignty in the Aegean islands, making unfounded allegations.
I must openly say that we completely reject these allegations.
We stand firm in the protection of our interests, on the basis of international law, international law of the sea and the UN Charter.
Dear Nikola,
Thank you very much for the warm way in which you always welcome me here in Belgrade. There are so many that I would like to thank, you and President Vučić. I am deeply indebted to you for your warm hospitality and I look forward to seeing you next week in Thessaloniki and Athens in the near future.
