E. VENIZELOS: Today, here in Thessaloniki, the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the member states of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) took place. I had the great pleasure, not only as the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Greece, but also as a citizen of Thessaloniki, of welcoming to our city my colleagues the Foreign Ministers of the BSEC member states, the representatives of countries participating as observers, the heads or representatives of the BSEC related bodies and affiliated centers, as well as the representatives of the major business plans being promoted under the auspices of BSEC.
As you know, the Black Sea, the Black Sea region, covers a vast market of 350 million residents and is fertile ground for the development of transport and energy networks. BSEC is now a mature international economic organization that has proven the added value it provides in regional cooperation.
At this time, the Black Sea region is experiencing international political tensions. And BSEC is obliged to declare its economic nature and not turn into one more forum for political conflict or general political debate, but to function as a practical organ for the promotion of very specific plans that are aimed at development, at economic cooperation, at progress, at prosperity and jobs for all the countries, all the societies and all of the peoples of the wider Black Sea region.
Today’s meeting welcomed participants on a high Ministerial level from all of the member states, without exception: the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, just to mention a few BSEC members. We had the opportunity a few months ago, on 25 September, for an informal discussion on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York City, and thus we had prepared today’s formal Council of Foreign Minister of the BSEC member states.
Because the philosophy of the Hellenic Chairmanship, which ends today, was to contribute to the reorganization of BSEC’s functions and actions; to make them more effective, more practical, more cohesive, in cooperation with the Permanent Secretariat and the Secretary General, Ambassador Tvircun, who is here beside me.
A number of very important Ministerial Meetings were held under the Hellenic Chairmanship: Health Ministers – which was something unprecedented and innovative and interesting, because it opened a new cooperation network – the Tourism Ministers, Transport Ministers. And naturally there is always the field of energy, which is, if you will, the natural foundation on which the cooperation of the BSEC states is being built.
Today we reaffirmed the ambitious target that was the motto of the Hellenic Chairmanship: “Building Support for Economic Cooperation,” symbolized by the ancient trireme. And with the texts that we approved unanimously, we pointed up BSEC as the right forum for economic cooperation through specific programmes, like, for example, the Black Sea Ring Highway and the maritime corridors.
But there are also other dimensions that we pointed up. The historical and cultural dimensions, which are very, very important. We decided to adopt the idea of a Cultural Black Sea Port, which has its origins in the historical founding of our cooperation in the region. And of course, from this point of view, it is important to encourage actions like cinematic tourism, gastro-tourism and other forms of tourism activities that are of interest to all the countries of the region.
Today we reaffirmed the importance to BSEC of its cooperation with, first, the UN – a General Assembly resolution has already been passed on UN-BSEC cooperation. And, of course, the cooperation between BSEC and the European Union, which is also more practical, because there is the potential for utilizing capital provided by the EU’s structural funds, by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
We are very pleased to be pointing up the BSEC associated institutions being hosted in Greece: the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), which is based in Thessaloniki, and, of course, the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS), which is based in Athens.
Today’s meeting is also the change-of-chairmanship meeting and the transition from the Hellenic Chairmanship to the Moldovan Chairmanship. I am very pleased that the new chairperson of the Organization is here with me, in the name of her country and her government, Natalia Gherman, who presented to us the priorities of the Moldovan Chairmanship.
Priorities that are the natural continuation of the Hellenic Chairmanship’s priorities, and from this perspective I thank her warmly, because she accepts and respects and is capitalizing in the best way on the attainments of the Hellenic BSEC Chairmanship. And I once again express my congratulations to the Moldovan government on the recent result of the parliamentary elections carried out in Moldova, as well as my best wishes for a successful semester for the Moldovan BSEC Chairmanship. I am here between two Moldovans: Minister Natalia Gherman and the BSEC Secretary General, Victor Tvircun.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Deputy Foreign Minister Kourkoulas, who stood in for me in a number of BSEC Chairmanship activities, and, naturally, the coordinator of the Greek Chairmanship and chairman of the BSEC Committee of High-Level Officials, Ambassador Michael Christidis. I would like to take this opportunity to individually thank all of my colleague Ministers or Deputy Ministers who participated in today’s meeting and honored the institution and the city of Thessaloniki with their presence.
Thank you very much.
December 12, 2014