Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs carried out a visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo – the first visit on such a level in 46 years. During his talks with his counterpart, Emmanouel Kasongo, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kinshasa, it was agreed that the Democratic Republic of the Congo will form a Standing Committee, with the participation of members of the Greek community, to resolve pending issues. In the discussion – which took place in an excellent climate, with Greek Ambassador Georgios Papakostas and the honorary Consul in Lubumbashi and president of the Greek community of Kinshasa, Gerasimos Dounis, in attendance – the three basic categories of pending matters for the Greek community were codified. These concern • property that has been nationalised,• property destroyed in the violence and bloodshed of 1991, and• money owed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Greek suppliers. After the consultations, the Greek Deputy Minister made the following statement:“We are now on the verge of a very important and unprecedented development. It is also important that two Greeks will sit on this Committee. In a huge and difficult project, the participation of Greeks will be substantial and will also ensure the transparency of procedures and decisions. Mr. Kasongo, obviously interpreting his government’s stance, repeatedly stressed to me that what happened with foreign-owned property in 1974 was wrong, and that they want to remedy this mistake as best they can. They believe that this move may bring back some of the Greek families that left because of the various incidents. We also talked about cooperation, such as a Greek business mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo – and indeed with the assistance of the Greek community here. The subject of marble was very interesting. The Congo has a lot of marble, of excellent quality, but it does not have the know-how to process it. They asked for Greeks to come and do business in this sector. I underscored that the Greece of Democracy and Dialogue, the Greece that used marble in building its ancient civilization, that still knows how to cut and hew it today, is always open to profitable synergies. And, avoiding getting involved in other countries’ domestic affairs, Greece respects the political processes that are currently under way in the country and awaits their completion in an environment that is peaceful and stable – which are the two fundamental rules of the market – so that we can carry out the first business mission and other actions to be developed in our bilateral relations.”
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