Athens, 26 February 2009

Following her meetings at the U.S. Department of State on Wednesday, 25 February 2009, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis made the following statements to Greek correspondents:

Ms. Bakoyannis: I completed my round of meetings with the new U.S. administration with the meeting I had with Secretary of State Clinton, as well as meetings I had with other State Department officials. I had the opportunity to discuss a very broad range of topics, from issues of particular Greek interest – including Greek-Turkish relations, EU-Turkish relations, the Cyprus issue – to issues of broader interest, like the Middle East. And as you can see, given our OSCE Chairmanship, I also discussed issues concerning the Caucasus and the talks we are trying to set up within the OSCE framework with Russia and the other partners; talks on the European strategic future.

The talks were positive and took place in a very positive climate. They were constructive, and I don’t say that in the sense of diplomatic jargon: they were substantial and I believe this is the start of good cooperation that we will move ahead with in the months to come.