“Greece firmly supports the European perspective of the Western Balkans”, was the message sent today by Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis from Thessaloniki, where a special event was held, on his own initiative, titled "The Western Balkans join the dialogue on the Future of Europe".
The event, at the invitation of the Alternate Minister, was attended by: Mr. Nikola Dimitrov, Mr. Miroslav Gacevic, Mr. Đorđe Radulović, Mrs. Megi Fino, Mr Bakir Sadović, Mrs Donica Gërvalla-Schwarz and the Slovenian State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gašper Dovžan, whose country holds the presidency of the Council of the EU, while the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Mr. Olivér Várhelyi addressed the event, via video recorded message.
In particular, during the joint statements following the event, Mr. Varvitsiotis welcomed the participants and stressed that "since the adoption of the Thessaloniki Agenda in 2003, Greece has been firmly committed to a Europe that will include them all and will be geographically integrated”. He added that "for us, the integration of the Western Balkans is not a matter of controversy, but a matter of time".
For this reason, he asked the participants in today's event to come to Thessaloniki and confirm their willingness to join the European Union and the Dialogue of its member states on the Future of Europe.
A Europe that, as the Alternate Minister pointed out, is moving forward, despite the occasional setbacks, just as it did with the Enlargement to the Mediterranean in the 1980s and the Enlargement to the East in the 1990s. He added that Europe constitutes an ongoing process for more Europe, more unity, more joint action and more challenges. After all, as Mr. Varvitsiotis concluded, Europe stands out for three major, cohesive elements, that is freedom, solidarity and prosperity, which have made it the most peaceful continent for centuries.
September 15, 2021