Bună dimineața, dragă ministru, dragă Bogdan. Allow me to thank you for your kind hospitality today. Before going any further, I would like your permission to use my presence here in Bucharest to pay tribute to the memory of Yannos Kranidiotis. He was the Greek Alternate Foreign Minister who, 22 years ago, almost to the day, on his way to a meeting in Bucharest, was killed in a tragic accident. He was a pioneer of European integration, he was a strong advocate of EU enlargement, as well as enhancing cooperation in South-Eastern Europe. His ideals and principles are guiding the Greek foreign policy today. Now, I would like to express the Mitsotakis government’s deep appreciation for the substantial contribution Romania provided in the crisis of the recent wildfires. Thank you so much.An important gesture between long-standing friends, between EU partners, between NATO Allies. Our diplomatic relations span more than 14 decades, 140 years. And it will be a great honour to address the annual gathering of Romanian Ambassadors. And it will be a great honour to be received by President Iohannis later in the day. Greeks living in Romania, as well as Romanians living in Greece, contribute to further advancing ties between our two peoples.Eleusina and Timișoara will soon be the European capitals of Culture. Bilateral trade last year, despite the pandemic, reached almost two billion Euros. Greek investments in Romania are approximately 3.5 billion Euros. And Greece is one of the favourite destinations for Romanian tourists. We have to work more to further enhance our interconnectivity. In transport, through the Via Carpatia. In the energy sector. In all sectors. This will be beneficial for all the countries of the region, including our other EU partners. We are working together in regional schemes, such as the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and the South-East European Cooperation Process. And naturally, we are working very close together within our family, the EU. You can count on our full support in your efforts to join the Eurozone and to join the Schengen area. As well as your bid to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which we discussed before. All of the above is the positive side of the story. Unfortunately, not all things are rosy, we are facing common challenges. First of all, we need to avoid, and we agree on that, the creation of a black hole in the Western Balkans. We, the EU countries in the wider region, have a primary responsibility and direct interest to push forward the integration process of the Western Balkans. Of course, in full respect of the set conditionalities.Greece and Romania convened together a relevant EU Foreign Ministers’ discussion last May. Unless the EU feels the vacuum, others, that do not share the same principles, as Romania and Greece share, will try to fill it. Countries that support radical ideas, extremist movements. Similarly, we need to support our Eastern neighbours. This is the key message that I will convey to my interlocutors in Chisinau later today. And thank you for briefing me on the situation in Moldova. Of course, as we agreed, I am going to tell them that there is a huge need to continue the necessary reforms.Another major challenge we share, is the risk that some countries may try to instrumentalize migratory flows. We have witnessed this pattern several times in the past. And I am going to say clearly, to everybody, we will not allow this to reoccur.Recent events on the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia show that no EU country is immune to that threat. Afghanistan may be geographically far away, but, believe me, it is very close. Last, but definitely not least, we need to continue building a community of values and principles. Based on respect of International Law and in particular the Law of the Sea, in which this Ministry has a very proud tradition, if you allow me to say so, and you personally, my dear friend. Principles that both our countries share. Contrary to what others believe, that persist in efforts to revive 19th century principles. Greece is a NATO Ally for almost seven decades. We continue to show our unmitigated solidarity to the Alliance in which we belong. And contrary to other Allies, we do not undermine the cohesion of the Alliance from within. Through destabilizing actions, by advanced weapons purchase or by behavior that is contrary to the values and the principles of the NATO Alliance. And I have to thank Romania for its solidarity, and I have to thank also Bogdan for expressing this solidarity openly today during this press conference. And to say clearly, we will continue to work with Romania side by side on this. And a last, rather personal remark, if you will allow me: I believe it is your birthday tomorrow. So on this anniversary may I congratulate you and hope all the best for the future both for you personally but also in your role as a Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania. I am looking forward to many happy reunions together and successful meetings. Thank you so much for your hospitality.
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