Greek Prime Minister’s First Trip Abroad

In Istanbul
On his first trip abroad to attend the informal meeting of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Istanbul, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister George Papandreou, held talks, on October 9, with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglou and discussed all issues concerning Greek-Turkish relations. Papandreou pointed out to Erdogan [...]

Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to Washington Meets Obama

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic Vassilis Kaskarelis presented on July 20 his credentials to the President of the United States Barack Obama.  In his remarks, Ambassador Kaskarelis stressed that the two countries have often found themselves fighting shoulder-to-shoulder and waging concerted efforts for the common causeand, expressed his conviction that there exists [...]

Greek FM Tours Caucasus

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  Foreign Minister and Chairperson of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Dora Bakoyannis began a tour of the Caucasus yesterday, specifically in Azerbaijan and Armenia. In statements after a number of meetings in Azerbaijan, the first stop of her tour, Bakoyannis said that her visit was aimed at “strengthening bilateral [...]

Bakoyannis at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis visited Lithuania on June 30, on the occasion of the 18the annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.   Speaking before the Assembly, Bakoyannis focused on three issues: the need to take the OSCE forward in the economic and environmental dimension; the objective of building lasting stability and security [...]

International Meetings in Corfu

♦ Corfu Process Launched
The informal meeting of OSCE foreign ministers on the Greek island of Corfu concluded yesterday (28.6) with the launch of the “Corfu Process” to tackle European security challenges with concrete steps to restore confidence and prepare the ground for the ministers’ next meeting in Athens in December. “We have agreed on the [...]

Greece / Corfu High-Level Meetings

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA) The Greek Chairmanship of the OSCE is hosting an informal meeting of OSCE foreign ministers on June 27 and June 28, on the Greek island of Corfu.  The Corfu ministerial meeting will bring together all 56 participating states to the same table for a dialogue related to security in Europe and OSCE’s role. Corfu will [...]

OSCE Greek Chairmanship

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  The Greek OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Mission to Moldova held a two day seminar on “Confidence and Security-Building Measures” from June 21 until June 22 in Austria.  The seminar discussed a package of measures concerning the resolution of the Transdniestria conflict in Moldova with the participation of experts and political representatives [...]

Greek FM Dora Bakoyannis at OSCE Forum

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Foreign Minister and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson in Office Dora Bakoyannis addressed the opening session of the 17th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum:  ”Management of migration and its correlation and its linkages with economic, social and environmental policies to the benefit of stability and security in the [...]

Greek FM on Nagorno – Karabakh

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, speaking ahead of the 15th anniversary of the ceasefire agreement that ended one of the most violent conflicts in the area of the former Soviet Union, expressed hope that the parties in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would make further progress towards a peaceful settlement.  She also welcomed [...]

Greek Prime Minister: Let’s go for Energy

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  The 27 members of the European Union have agreed that the time is ripe for the EU to inaugurate a new framework of cooperation with its Eastern Partners, engaging in dialogue with 6 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.   On May 7, the Czech presidency held the Prague Summit, which officially [...]

The OSCE magazine on line

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   The first issue of the OSCE magazine (March-April 2009) is available on line. The publication focuses on the 2009 Greek OSCE Chairmanship, the 16th Ministerial Council Meeting in Helsinki (December 2008), the relations of OSCE with Ukraine and the question of OSCE’s legal personality. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe: OSCE Magazine March-April [...]

Greek CiO at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Chairperson-in-Office Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said modesty, consolidation and time were needed for a successful conclusion to the discussion on how to develop the European security architecture in a speech delivered at an OSCE Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Vienna yesterday. Noting that the issue had been discussed between the 56 Foreign Ministers participating [...]

OSCE Mandate in Georgia Extended

GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   The 56 participating states in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), agreed yesterday in Vienna to extend the presence of the Organization’s unarmed military monitoring officers in Georgia until June 30. Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, welcomed the move, saying: “This decision to extend the mandate of the OSCE [...]

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Dora Bakoyannis in Albania

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   “Our neighbourhood must be a priority,” the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Greece Dora Bakoyannis said during an official visit to Albania on Monday, as part of an ongoing a tour of western Balkan states. Albania plays a constructive regional role, but it must continue on the reform path and focus on [...]

OSCE: Dora Bakoyannis in Kosovo

GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis visited Kosovo on Tuesday (3.2.09), on the second day of her western Balkans tour. After holding meetings in Pristina with Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci Bakoyannis noted that she was there “as a friend, as a neighbour and as chairperson of the Organisation for [...]

OSCE: Greek Chairmanship Concept Paper

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   OSCE: Greek Chairmanship Concept Paper  The political principles guiding Greek foreign policy coincide fully with the OSCE’s core principles and commitments: full respect for international law and the rules of multilateral diplomacy, seeking the best possible convergence and consensus, reliability and sincerity. Greece is convinced that there cannot be a lasting peace [...]

Greece: News from Moscow

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov met in Moscow on Wednesday and held talks. The greater part of the meting was devoted to Greece’s proposal for finding a compromise solution that would allow OSCE observers to remain in Georgia and South Ossetia. “The proposals of the (Greek) presidency [...]

OSCE in Motion / Greek FM’s visit to Russia

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)       Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis is visiting Russia in her capacity as OSCE Chairperson. The visit to Moscow is the minister’s first visit abroad representing the OSCE. Yesterday, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass published an interview with the foreign minister. Bakoyannis took the opportunity to underscore Greece’s steadfast determination to facilitate the negotiation [...]

Hellas 2009 OSCE Chairmanship

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   On 1 January 2009, Greece is assuming the Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the coming year and is called upon to respond to the multi-faceted challenges of a particularly unstable environment influenced by the global financial crisis, recent developments in the Caucasus and the discussion [...]

OSCE Greek Chairmanship Gears Up for Interesting Times

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)    Strengthening the role of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in early warning, prevention and management of conflicts and crises will be a prime pursuit of the OSCE Greek Chairmanship, said Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis in an interview with the organisation’s magazine. Although the events in Georgia in the [...]