Athens , 11 November 2009

“As you know, Spain will hold the EU Presidency during the first six months of 2010. This was an initial meeting, at the invitation of the Spanish Foreign Minister, for a discussion on preparation and coordination of the programme and priorities of the Spanish Presidency.

Spain will be the first Presidency after the Lisbon Treaty goes into effect.

As you know, we will have two new figures symbolizing and representing the EU: a president of the European Council and an EU foreign minister. This changes the institutional organs and the functioning of the EU, and how to handle this new institutional framework is certainly a challenge for the Spanish Presidency.

Other issues we had the opportunity to discuss as priorities – and that overlap with Greece’s particular interests – include the issues of illegal migration and the further enlargement of the EU. Here, I once again had the opportunity to set forth the proposal that Greece has made for further enlargement towards the countries of the Western Balkans, with the target-date of 2014. And here I think that the Spanish Presidency shares our thoughts and our ideas. We have common interests, and so we are looking forward to very close cooperation on this issue, as well, with the Spanish Presidency.”