In his speech at the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Summit Meeting, which started yesterday, together with the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, in Brdo, Slovenia, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Amanatidis stressed Greece’s firm and longstanding interest in the region of the Western Balkans; an interest that is focused, as a strategic goal, on promoting the region’s European and Euroatlantic perspective in order to create a zone of stability and progress throughout the region.The SEECP, as a regional cooperation platform, was created on a Greek and Bulgarian initiative in 1996 and is made up exclusively of countries of Southeast Europe. In addition to Greece and Bulgaria, Albania, fYROM, Serbia, Romania, Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro and Slovenia participate in the SEECP. Slovenia has held the chairmanship since 2017.Within the framework of the Summit meeting, Mr. Amanatidis set out the four axes of Greek policy in the Western Balkans: on the one hand, support for the region’s European and Euroatlantic perspective, on condition that the criteria set by the two organizations are met, and the building of bilateral relations and multilateral cooperation initiatives based on strategic actions, and on the other hand, promotion of major networks in the sectors of energy and transport, and assistance with economic development.More specifically, he stressed that the Greek approach is founded on the basic criteria that must be met – as prerequisites in accordance with EU Enlargement Policy and the Stabilisation and Association Process – by the countries that aspire to join the EU. These prerequisites include rule of law, democracy, combating corruption and organized crime, fundamental freedoms, minority rights, good neighbourly relations, and the resolution of the fYROM name issue.In parallel, Mr. Amanatidis clarified that Greece, as the oldest EU member state in Southeast Europe, is a force for stability, cooperation and development in the region. He referred to the significant Greek investment and business activities that have created thousands of jobs in a number of Balkan countries; jobs that, together with the hundreds of thousands of our neighbours who reside in Greece or visit us on holiday, are the foundation for a kind of ‘osmosis’ with the Balkan neighbours and significant capital that Greece wants to utilise.Regarding the present summit meeting, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs reiterated Greece’s support for the Slovenian Chairmanship’s initiatives within the framework of the SEECP and focused on the importance of enhancing security and stability in Southeast Europe, all forms of connectivity (digital connectivity, land and sea transport), and youth mobility in the Balkans.During his speech at the Meeting of SEECP Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Amanatidis focused on the great importance of this ‘native’ regional organization – in which all the states of the region participate – as a key political forum for cooperation in Southeast Europe as the region proceeds on its European and Euroatlantic course.He pointed up the importance, as a ‘milestone’, of the 2003 Thessaloniki Agenda, as it is based on this Agenda that the Western Balkans gained a clear European perspective within the framework of the accession process and the Stability and Association Agreements. Moreover, the Thessaloniki Agenda has provided to date the basic framework for EU-Western Balkan relations and is aimed at promoting stability and economic development in the region.The European enlargement policy, Mr. Amanatidis said, is founded on the principle of just and strict conditionality, with special emphasis on good neighbourly relations. He stressed that Greece continues to actively promote the reforms the EU requires of the countries of the Western Balkans, providing expertise on the European acquis.Finally, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed the conviction that the European and Euroatlantic perspective can contribute to the handling of security problems in the region, on the condition that the interested countries work seriously on their preparations and initiate a sincere and courageous dialogue aimed at full normalisation of bilateral relations.
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