Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis Meets UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon

Greece will not “militarize” the discussion due to Turkish provocations, “we have solid arguments and we set them out, defending our country’s interests in the best possible manner, and we will continue to this”, stated Greek Foreign Minister, Stavros Lambrinidis, following his meeting with UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon.

The escalation of tension on behalf of Ankara, the Cyprus issue, the FYROM name issue, the broader situation in the Middle East, and economic developments in Greece and Europe, were among issues discussed between Greek Foreign Minister Lambrinidis and UN Chief, Ban Ki Moon, in the sidelines of the 66th UN General Assembly.

The Greek Minister stated that it was a “constructive discussion” and that the UN Secretary General, expressed his concern over the events causing instability in the region (Turkish provocations), which in turn worsen the climate for a solution to the Cyprus issue.

In regard to his discussion with Mr. Ban Ki Moon, the Greek Foreign Minister stated;
“We had a very friendly and useful meeting with the Secretary General, on a number of major issues to be considered by the General Assembly.

The Middle East topped the agenda, of course, along with the broader “Arab spring” and all the developments in the region – developments that are at once hopeful and, lest they go in the wrong direction, cause for concern. On the Middle East issue, we mainly discussed how important it is to Greece that a solution be found, so that there can be a Palestinian state that lives in peace beside a secure Israel. Both have rights on these issues, and we need to promote this prospect worldwide.”

He then stressed that they talked about the wider region and “concerns at the instability being created by many developments.
And I had the chance in this meeting to brief the Secretary General on the latest, very worrying threats made by Turkey against Cyprus, on Cyprus’s absolute rights to exploit the natural wealth in its exclusive economic zone, and on the recent announcement from Turkey of exploration that overlaps the Greek continental shelf.

The Secretary General expressed his concern at phenomena that bring instability and phenomena that can also make more difficult the extremely important talks on the Cyprus issue, which he, like everyone else, is very interested in seeing resolved.”

Mr. Lambrinidis also stated “So, we had the opportunity for an exceptional talk, and I hope this will continue in the rest of the meetings I am going to have this week with various foreign ministers and heads of state.”