Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-04-23

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Tsipras, Wang, note opportunities for closer cooperation through Ancient Civilizations Forum

[02] Kotzias, Iran's Zarif discuss bilateral cooperation, regional developments

[03] Greece is key NATO ally in a strategically crucial region, says U.S. ambassador

[01] Tsipras, Wang, note opportunities for closer cooperation through Ancient Civilizations Forum

Wang is in Athens to participate in Monday's Ancient Civilizations Forum, organized by the foreign ministry.

"We have the pleasure of establishing this forum of great ancient civilizations, an idea of the two foreign ministers [Greek and Chinese], as Greece and China have marked the world's cultural heritage with their ancient civilizations," Tsipras said, noting the forum will allow the 10 participating countries to form a meaningful cooperation that could produce initiatives for the future.

"We are at a stage of very meaningful cooperation. Greece is located at a particular corner of the globe, with particular commercial and geostrategic interest and China is a very important partner for us,' he said.

On his side, Wang Yi said Tsipras' visit to China last year "left a great impression and was very successful," noting that China appreciates and supports the Ancient Civilizations Forum initiative which he believes will attract the interest of the international community. He also said the opening of the forum coincides with a period of uncertainty and instability and dialog between pioneering ancient civilizations will be of particular importance, especially in addressing the various problems facing the world today.

"Greece, historically, is a very ancient and rich civilization and has contributed significantly in humanity's progress and the forum held tomorrow will play a significant role in the international platform, on the backdrop of the 21st century," Wang said.

He told Tsipras that the Chinese president is inviting him to Beijing to participate in the Silk Road Belt forum, which will be held next month. "We believe that your participation in this forum and the close cooperation of the two sides in preparing this event will further intensify our bilateral relations and promote more results for the Silk Road initiative," he said.

Tsipras will meet at 20:00 with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and on Monday afternoon with the foreign Minister of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry. The foreign dignitaries are in Athens to participate in Monday's Forum.

[02] Kotzias, Iran's Zarif discuss bilateral cooperation, regional developments

Zarif is in Athens to participate in Monday's Ancient Civilizations Forum, organized by the foreign ministry.

[03] Greece is key NATO ally in a strategically crucial region, says U.S. ambassador

"Greece is a key NATO ally in a strategically crucial region. It is an important ally in the eastern Mediterranean at a time when America's highest foreign policy priority is the military defeat of ISIS in Syria," he said.

"It is also a key partner in our engagement with the countries in Northern Africa. It is a strong ally as we seek to work with the countries of the western Balkans, keeping them on the Euro-Atlantic trajectory and it is an essential partner in dealing with the challenges emerging from the Black Sea region. So Greece is right in the center of the picture."

Asked about America's expectations regarding bilateral relations in defence, Pyatt said Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos had an "excellent visit" to Washington DC where he had discussed regional issues with Secretary of Defence James Mattis.

"We already have a strong alliance. Our interest now is to work together to build the kind of partnership that we need to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Some of the strategic issues in the neighborhood that I talked about, but also the challenge of terrorism which is a threat to all of our democracies," he said.

Concerning the importance the United States place on Souda Bay, in Crete, where NATO maintains a base, the ambassador described it as an "essential strategic asset", very important to US naval forces operating in the eastern Mediterranean.

"We're grateful for that, but it's also it a fantastic platform for strengthening the military ties between our forces. I'm very, very impressed by the kind of respectful and professional relationships between our air forces and our navies' that work together in Souda Bay. We are very much looking forward to continuing to deepen and strengthen that relationship in a way that advances both countries' security," he said.

Asked about NATO's ongoing operations in the Aegean to minimize refugee flows, he said the United States strongly supports the work to reduce risk from migration, noting however that the long-term solution is peace in Syria.

"We have been strong supporters of the NATO Standing Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2), which has helped reduce the risks from illegal migration into Greece. Of course the long-term solution to that problem is peace in Syria and that's something were also working to achieve but in the meantime we are strong supporters of SNMG2," he said.

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