- “Ratification of the Protocol on the Amendment of the Agreement on the Bilateral Development Aid Cooperation Program between the Government of the Hellenic Republic and the Government of the Republic of Albania, signed in Athens at December 20, 2001”
- “Ratification of the Agreement on the termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties between the Member States of the European Union”
“The Greek economy needs foreign investment and the termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties between Member States of the European Union paves the way for their attraction”, stressed Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis speaking at the Plenary Session of the Parliament for the ratification of the Agreement on the termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties between the Member States of the European Union. As he clarified, the said Agreement concerns only the intra-EU investment treaties and not those drawn up with third countries, with which Greece reserves the right to draw up treaties, thus providing them with an additional investment incentive.
Furthermore, Mr. Varvitsiotis referred to the ratification of the Protocol on the Amendment of the Agreement on the Bilateral Development Aid Cooperation Program with Albania. The original agreement, signed in 2001, was worth the amount of 2.5m Euros, and concerned the construction of a National Theater, but it was not used and the money remained in a blocked bank account in Albania. After the earthquake in 2019, it was co-decided to amend the Agreement in order for this amount to be used for the construction of a Technical High School in Tirana, which will develop direct synergies with a corresponding technical high school in Kastoria. He mentioned that in 2001, through the program for the economic reconstruction of the Balkans, Greece allocated a lot of money, especially in the areas inhabited by the Greek minority, by creating infrastructure and aiming at their economic development, which allowed the Greek population to remain in the area and maintain its economic activity. With regard to the ratified Agreement, he noted that this action is part of the international contacts and the permanent aid Greece is providing to neighbouring countries, which are of particular interest for Greece and with which it seeks to maintain good relations. He underlined that this falls into the same context with the multiple donations of vaccines to several countries organized over the recent weeks to address the pandemic. “In this way, Greece is enjoying high approval ratings in foreign public opinion”, he pointed out.
Mr. Varvitsiotis completed his speech, making a special reference to Mikis Theodorakis, stressing: “To us, Mikis Theodorakis was emblematic, unsurpassable, and universal. As one commentator aptly wrote, Mikis Theodorakis was always present. He was present in all the major crises our nation went through. He always took a stand, whether we agreed with him or not. He always took a stand and in this way he managed to embrace all Greeks, not necessarily because they all agreed with him. He embraced them not only with his lyrics and tunes but through his personality he managed to embrace the anguish of the Greek people. May the earth lie lightly upon him and he should know that we will always look upon him with much love and respect, always to the sound of his unique music”.
September 8, 2021