Government Vice President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos met with UK counterpart, William Hague yesterday in London. During their meeting and working lunch, the two officials discussed the priorities of the upcoming Greek Presidency of the EU Council, focusing also on the Cyprus issue, developments in Syria, Egypt, Iran, Libya, as well as on illegal migration and Greek economy.

After the meeting, Venizelos stated that "after four years of austerity policies, now Greece is a credible member of the EU, ready to project very important, unique, fiscal and structural achievements," adding also that Greece has recorded the highest primary surplus in the EU and the eurozone.

He also underlined that "there are already significant British direct investments in Greece," and pointed to energy sector and the British involvement through British Petrol (BP) in the the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project, adding that "given Britain’s decisive role in the financial sector, it was important for the British government to be briefed firsthand on Greek economy and the Greek government’s strategic decisions." Regarding the European banking union, Venizelos stated that talks on the banking union necessarily include the protection of deposits.

On his part, William Hague said the UK is "enthusiastic about the Greek presidency" and stressed that the presidency’s priorities, and the maritime priority in particular. He further commented on the good bilateral relationship, stressing that the two countries have more than three billion dollars of trade yearly, and many connections between the two peoples, including tourism.