Speaking at the 3rd European Union-Arab World Summit, held in Athens, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Katrougalos, stressed that the European Union and the Arab countries ought to tackle together world-wide problems such as migration and terrorism. "The problems cannot be addressed by closing the borders," said the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, adding "we must defend international law, and especially the rights of refugees and migrants.” At the same time, however, we must also defend European society so that it can overcome the phenomena of nationalism and intolerance. The permanent and lasting characteristics of our foreign policy are the defence of international law, multilateral relations, and respect for UN resolutions in order to solve, through peaceful means, conflicts everywhere in the world, and particularly in our region, such as in Cyprus and Palestine. In this context, Greece has undertaken important initiatives to promote regional cooperation in the region, such as the Rhodes Conference, which brought together 24 countries of the EU and the Arab world, as well as the international conference on religious and cultural dialogue and pluralism with the countries of the Middle East. Our country represents a bridge between Europe and the Arab world. This goes beyond its simple geographical location. We have historical and cultural ties with all the countries of the region. We have never been a colonial power, and we also had large diasporas which have played a very important role in Greece's relations with Arab countries. " "At this juncture," Mr Katrougalos said, "when we are recovering from the most serious financial crisis that any Western country has ever experienced in peacetime, we can offer very significant economic prospects for synergies and investment. We intend to become an important hub for logistics and transport in our region so as to connect the European Union, the Arab world and China, while at the same time exploiting the opportunities of the "One Road, One Belt" strategy. We are promoting initiatives to make our country an energy hub between Europe, Asia and Africa and, at the same time, having come back on the path to economic growth, we offer unique opportunities for investors in various sectors such as energy and renewable energy sources - where we have considerable know-how - real estate, infrastructure and tourism. The presence of Greek businesses in the Middle East, especially in the construction sector, gives us an important lead for the future." On the margin of the summit, Mr. Katrougalos had one-on-one contacts with Egyptian Oil Minister, Tarek El Molla, Malta's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carmelo Abela, Moroccan Minister of State Lahcen Daoudi and Qatar's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sultan Bin Saad Al Muraikhi.
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