The first month of 2020 will be one of intense diplomatic activity for Athens, during which the prime minister and the Greek government will seek to highlight Greece’s role as a pillar of stability and security in the region, enhance its profile as an energy hub but also achieve the diplomatic containment and isolation of neighboring Turkey, according to ANA.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will start the month by signing the EastMed pipeline agreement in Athens on January 2, in what amounts to the Greek government’s first active response to the invalid memorandums signed by Turkey and Libya.
The prime minister will then meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on January 7 and seek to draw attention to Ankara’s provocative rhetoric, while once again making it clear that the Turkey-Libya deal is void and does not generate legal effects, as well as failing to promote regional stability.
Mitsotakis’ third stop in his diplomatic “race” will be his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The French president has so far been Greece’s most ardent supporter and is now taking on a leading role, expressing great interest in events in the southeastern Mediterranean.
An equally busy month in terms of international diplomacy is planned for Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, starting with a staff-level meeting between Greek and Italian experts in Rome on Monday to continue talks on the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of the two countries.
A trilateral meeting of Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt with the participation of France (3+1 scheme) is to follow in Cairo on January 4 or 5, with the agenda of talks focusing on security, energy and regional developments.
In mid-January, on a date that is yet to be finalized, Dendas is to visit Morocco, a country that strongly influences developments in Libya. Finally, the EastMed Gas Forum is to take place in Cairo on January 15-16.
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