Following the upgrading of the USA-Greece Defence Agreement between Mike Pompeo and Greece’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias, Monday saw a second round of strategic meetings take place.
Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Philip Reeker announced the start of the proceedings for the second round of bilateral consultations between senior Greek and U.S. officials which concerned a wide range of issues, including security, energy, trade, the economy, investment, culture and education.
Citizen Protection Ministry officials met with a delegation of United States representatives and discussed security and the international aspect of the migration-refugee issue.
The meeting was preceded by a bilateral meeting between Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chryssochoidis and Alternate Minister responsible for migration issues Giorgos Koumoutsakos, and Chad Wolf, US Department of Homeland Security undersecretary of strategy, policy and plans.
According to a ministry statement, the two sides confirmed their collaboration and agreed on Koumoutsakos' visit to Washington which will be scheduled through the diplomatic channels.
Following on, Education Minister Niki Kerameus and deputy ministers met with US Department of State Assistant Secretary of European and Eurasian Affairs Philip T. Reeker and US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt, in the framework of the second round of Greece-United States Strategic Dialogue.
"We are investing in the extroversion of the Greek education system, with two targets in mind: on the one hand, to expand the opportunities of Greek students and the country's institutions towards international synergies, on the other hand, to attract foreign students to Greek universities," said Kerameus.
"It is time to broaden our country's educational horizons and render it an international education hub," she concluded.
US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo spoke of Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone as an area where international law will be applied, and underlined that every country must recognise how "the US always does what needs to be done to protect its business interests and its people," speaking to SKAI news station.
"In a broader context," Pompeo added, "we care to see the Balkans stabilised, this being an area full of challenges and we want to see Greece lead in that respect. We want this fresh start with the new Prime Minister (Kyriakos Mitsotakis) and his team to lead the region forward and create stability throughout the region."
