Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Dear Andrej, it is a pleasure and I am honored to receive you here and we are also very happy that we have succeeded in expanding the MED 7 format to also include Croatia and Slovenia. We will have the opportunity for a full day of discussions on various topics, which are of course of common interest.
I am happy that we managed to find some time to discuss the common challenges regarding climate change and we have agreed on what I consider to be an important document, the Athens Declaration, which -I think- lays out very clearly the priorities that all Southern Mediterranean countries are facing vis a vis the climate crisis.
I would like to thank you again personally for the fact that you supported us during the horrific wildfires that we suffered from during the summer. I called you, you immediately sent us air support. I very much appreciated it but also this highlights the need for even stronger cooperation through the RescEU mechanism.
And, of course, we will have the chance after that to discuss all the other issues, the geopolitical challenges in the Mediterranean, but of course economic issues: how do we handle Covid and how do we reopen our economies and, of course, issues related to the Southern Neighbourhood.
Today we will have the chance to focus on our bilateral relations, which are going from strength to strength. You should know that we are always very supportive of the goals that you have set vis a vis even closer integration within the framework of the EU.
Welcome. It is a pleasure to see you.
Andrej Plenković: Thank you very much Kyriakos, Minister, dear friends. It is a great pleasure to be in Athens again, this is actually my second visit since you became Prime Minister, which is, I think, a very good frequency.
First of all I would like to express our condolences for the really tragic fires that you had and all the consequences that this has entailed for the Greek people, with the damages that are really high.
Of course we extended solidarity as much as we could with the Canadair that was sent with a team immediately. But you also helped us immediately during the earthquake that hit Croatia last December. That was also an expression of the very good relation and the positive partnership that exists between our two countries.
I am also grateful that Croatia is actually, together with Slovenia, attending its first MED Summit, EU members from the Mediterranean today meet here in Greece. I think this is a very good enlargement of this group, because both Slovenia and Croatia, as Mediterranean and Adriatic countries, do belong in this grouping. And I think this also brings a better understanding not only of the global, Mediterranean issues, but of the political and security challenges that we all face.
I very much look forward to extending our bilateral cooperation. In terms of political dialogue there is nothing that divides us. When it comes to the economy, I think with AVAX, your construction group, present in one of the most strategic projects in Croatia, which is the Pelješac Bridge, and the interest that Aegean had expressed for Croatia Airlines before the Covid crisis, this is one of the items that we can also address today.
