“Your Excellencies the Ambassadors of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation member states,
Distinguished Speakers and Representatives of the Parliaments of the Member States of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation,
Mr. Secretary General,
Mr. Former Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,
I welcome you, in turn, to Greece, and I welcome you to the Hellenic Parliament, not just in my capacity as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, but mainly in my capacity as Member of the Hellenic Parliament and President of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok).
I am truly pleased because the Plenary of the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly is convening today, just a few days before the Meeting of the Council of BSEC member-state Foreign Ministers, which will take place on Friday, in Thessaloniki. This meeting is in reality the culmination of the Hellenic Chairmanship of BSEC, which is ready to pass the baton to the Moldovan Chairmanship, continuing the succession of our joint efforts to maintain and strengthen this Organization’s role.
Of course, in the period we are currently going through, the Black Sea region has again become a region of political tensions and crises. The issues of security, of equilibrium, of coexistence – issues linked with peace and the implementation of international law – are again the center of attention. But we have international fora, international organizations, within the framework of which we can talk and try to settle these issues.
We had the opportunity last week, within the framework of the meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers, in Basel, Switzerland, to discuss these issues. And, of course, Greece, as an EU member state, as an old member state of NATO, avails itself of the many opportunities it has to discuss these issues. And, mainly, we consistently, systematically and persistently cultivate – with respect for our collocutors – the full network of our bilateral relations with all of the BSEC member states, without exception.
For us, these bilateral relations are of huge importance and also constitute the foundation of our multilateral cooperation within BSEC.
But, as you know better than I, BSEC has an added value. It is an organization of an economic nature. Consequently, it gives us the potential – focusing our attention on economic and development issues – to contribute in a direct and effective manner to de-escalating the crises, to overcoming differences, and, of course, to strengthening peace, stability and growth in the wider region covered by BSEC.
Our Organization covers a region of some 350 million residents, a huge market, a huge productive force. So we have the potential – and your presence here is proof of this fact – to capitalize on the long-term prospects, to overcome the difficulties and to shape our future course with the aim of the triptych I referred to: peace-stability-development, prosperity for our peoples, our nations, our citizens.
This was the principal goal of the Hellenic Chairmanship during the semester that is coming to a close. Of course, there are always technical problems. We had the opportunity at the Informal Meeting of BSEC Foreign Ministers, on the margins of the UN General Assembly this past September, in New York City, to discuss interventions that could bolster the Organization’s effectiveness. And, in fact, with the Secretariats help and with the help of all the member states, I believe that we are all aware that there is a need for interventions that make the Organization more functional, simpler, more effective, to the benefit of all our peoples.
Of particular importance is productive cooperation between the member states, the BSEC Permanent Secretariat, and the Parliamentary Assembly. But there are also related bodies, like the Business Council and the two bodies we host in Greece: The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank and the International Centre for Black Sea Studies.
I think that the results of these interventions on our part will gradually become apparent in the manner in which working groups function and, mainly, in the transformation of BSEC into an organization with a practical orientation. That is, an Organization oriented in the direction of the planning, financing and implementation of very specific development plans that – when we have conceived them – we can finance in cooperation with the EU, in cooperation with the European Investment Bank, in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and in cooperation with other international and regional funding sources.
Of course, you, the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly, the representatives of the national parliaments, are the authentic, the valid, the democratic voice of the peoples of the member states. That is why it is of particular importance that the institution of the Parliamentary Assembly be pointed up as a mature representative regional institution that safeguards the economic and development-oriented nature of the Organization. Everything the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament said with regard to tourism, energy and the networks being developed is self-evident and accepted by all.
Practical implementation comes up against difficulties. And it comes up against difficulties because there are legal problems that have to do with the structural legal orders of the BSEC member states, as well as problems that have to do with the European community legal order, with the European acquis. We are making a great effort to overcome these problems. Greece and the other BSEC members who are also members of the EU are making coordinated efforts to overcome these problems. This is the goal of our cooperation with Bulgaria and Romania, just as it is our goal to try to facilitate the EU’s relations with all of the BSEC member states.
Ladies and gentlemen MPs, it is of particular importance that we develop a dialogue that is honest, calm and unbiased. We are not ignoring what is happening in reality, we are not ignoring the crises, the tensions, the various clashes.
History guides us, but, to the degree possible, we must avoid a sentimental and ideological use of history and always confront things from the perspective of the future and from the perspective of the urgent sense among our peoples, all of whom, without exception, want stability, peace, growth, investments, jobs, new opportunities.
I am certain that the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly here in Athens, just before the Meeting of BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers, will send very, very clear messages. Speaking on behalf of the Greek government, I welcome you all as friends and partners, and I ask that you convey to your Parliaments, to your governments, to my counterparts, this message of cooperation, friendship and partnership.
Thank you very much.”
December 9, 2014