On Wednesday, 9 October 2019, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis received Matti Anttonen, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, which currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union.
They discussed mainly issues of European interest, ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 15 October and the European Council meeting on 18 and 19 October.
With regard to enlargement in the Western Balkans, Mr. Varvitsiotis explained to Mr. Anttonen, through a historical overview of the sensitive region of the Balkans, why Greece is against the prospect of the decoupling of the two countries up for accession, with regard to the decision on the launching of accession negotiations. The Greek Alternate Minister underscored that our country continues to support the two countries’ European perspectives, provided they meet all of the requirements that have been set. Regarding Brexit, Mr. Varvitsiotis stressed that the UK’s withdrawal without an agreement will gravely damage the economies of the EU member states and the United Kingdom.
The Finish Secretary of State set out in detail the difficulties involved in resolving the Northern Ireland issue, pointing out that this is an open wound for the societies of the involved countries.
The Alternate Minister then underscored the Greek people’s desire to remain in the hard core of the EU, as borne out by the Greek results of the recent European elections. He noted the Greek side’s priorities with regard to the new Multiannual Financial Framework, mainly concerning the funding of traditional EU policies – namely the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy.
Finally, with regard to Greek-Turkish relations, Mr. Varvitsiotis shared our country’s concern at Turkey’s violations of and lack of respect for international law, stressing that Greece will always stand at Cyprus’s side.
October 9, 2019