Foreign minister meets Ukrainian counterpart in Kiev

Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas, who began a two-day visit to Ukraine on Monday, met with his Ukrainian counterpart Kostyantyn Hryshchenko. The Greek minister expressed Athens' political will to broaden bilateral relations, especially in tourism and trade. 



'I know that one of the main factors bearing on tourist flows is the Schengen visa requirement, and I want to say that Greece is implementing the agreement on easing EU-Ukrainian visas with the greatest possible flexibility, and our consular missions have been instructed to facilitate the visits of Ukrainian tourists to Greece. Kostyantyn mentioned this, and I can say that we had a 55% increase in the past year.'


'Mr. Gryshchenko and I had the opportunity to discuss international and regional issues, such as the developments in Libya, as well as issues of particular interest to Greece. and we reviewed all of our economic/commercial relations, the political relations between our two countries, our cultural relations. And not just through a purely bilateral prism, but from the perspective of Ukraine’s relations with the EU, as well.'

Droutsas said that Greece will do everything it can to support and further assist Ukraine’s European orientation.

On his part Hryshchenko noted that beyond tourism bilateral cooperation in the sectors of trade, energy - particularly in renewable energy sources - and transport should be reinforced. 

Moreover, and in response press questions, the Ukrainian minister said his country "will fulfill its commitments regarding the safety of its nuclear plants," while declining to say whether Kiev will adopt nuclear tests that the European Union is planning to implement.