Diplomatic Diary: Serbia, Greece to boost relations, co-operation

11/11/2008

Serbia's Cvetkovic is in Greece. Also in diplomatic news this week: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi, will co-chair an intergovernmental summit.

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic visits Greece on Tuesday (November 11th). [Getty Images]

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic arrived in Greece on Tuesday (November 11th) for a one-day official visit, where he is expected to meet with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and President Karolos Papoulias. Discussions will focus on bilateral relations and ways to boost economic co-operation.

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A Turkish-Italian intergovernmental summit will occur in the Aegean resort city of Izmir on Wednesday (November 12th). Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi, will co-chair the summit, the first such event between Turkey and Italy. Their foreign ministers, Turkey's Ali Babacan and Italy's Franco Frattini, will sign an agreement to establish a Turkish-Italian university in Istanbul.

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Greece and Bulgaria affirmed their common commitment to further expand bilateral co-operation in the energy sector, according to a joint statement by Greek Development Minister Christos Folias and Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov after talks in Sofia on Friday (November 7th). The two countries will enhance common efforts for ensuring energy security and diversifying energy sources, Folias told journalists.

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Croatian President Stipe Mesic on Thursday (November 6th) said he hopes Macedonia will successfully overcome the hurdles on its road to Euro-Atlantic integration. At a meeting with visiting Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski, Mesic said the future of the region is in a united Europe and in NATO, which would guarantee its security. Crvenkovski also met with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and Deputy Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks.

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Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband expressed common interest in finding a solution to the Cyprus issue at a meeting in London on Friday (November 7th). The two said they hope the ongoing reunification talks between the Cypriot communities will be successful and negotiators will settle the issue in 2009.

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Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski met on Monday (November 10th) with Polish counterpart Lech Kaczynski in Warsaw. Bilateral relations, Macedonia's integration in the EU and NATO, as well as obstacles to this road stemming from the country's name dispute with Greece, were the focus of discussions. Poland supports Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration and has not changed its position that Macedonia should use its constitutional name in bilateral issues, Kaczynski said.

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Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki began a three-day official visit to Turkey on Monday (November 10th). His itinerary includes meetings with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, President Abdullah Gul and Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan. They will discuss further strengthening of bilateral relations, respective EU integration bids and Turkey's support for Macedonia's NATO accession effort.

(Various sources 04/11/08-11/11/08)