Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, who is in New York, had a meeting with UN Secretary General António Guterres.

Mr. Dendias and Mr. Guterres discussed the Greek candidacies to the UN Security Council for the period 2025-26, to the presidency of the UN General Council in 2035 and to the Human Rights Council for the period 2028-2030.

Also on the agenda for the talks were international and regional issues, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Cyprus issue, developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Balkans, as well as global issues, including climate change and human rights

The statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in detail

“Today I had the opportunity to meet once again with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Guterres. The formal reason for my visit to the Secretary General was to announce to him the Greek candidacy for the United Nations Security Council for the period of 2025 – 26. As you know, this afternoon I will be presenting our candidacy at an event here in New York.

Apart from that, however, we had the opportunity to discuss a wider range of topics. First, as always, the Cyprus issue, the possibility of a new initiative after the election of Nikos Christodoulidis to the Presidency of the Republic of Cyprus. But also about the situation in Ukraine, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and a number of issues related to the protection of the environment, the protection of women’s rights and many others”.

JOURNALIST: Mr. Minister, did the Secretary General tell you anything about the appointment of an Envoy?

N. DENDIAS: First of all, Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo is in the Republic of Cyprus – I don’t know if she left in the last few hours. The Secretary-General is awaiting her own report before agreeing on further steps. I repeat, what Greece is doing is encouraging the Secretary General to make further efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, always within the framework of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions. This is our role.

JOURNALIST: What did the Secretary General tell you about Greece’s application for a seat on the Security Council?

N. DENDIAS: The General Secretary welcomed the brochure and the nomination. Of course, he couldn’t take a stand on that. But, because I want to be honest, I didn’t see him unhappy.