Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos met yesterday with visiting Albanian Defence Minister Mimi Kodeli.

Avramopoulos stressed the historically strong ties of friendship between the two countries and said that Greece was prepared to assist in the reconstruction of the Albanian armed forces. He also announced that a new updated and enhanced defence cooperation agreement will be signed between Greece and Albania, hopefully in late August. He also reiterated Greece's support for Albania's EU prospect, expressing hope that accession talks with the EU will soon begin.

Kodeli referred to Greece as an important partner of Albania and stressed that she hoped that this trend would be maintained in the future, in the context of regional initiatives, such as the South-Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial, where Albania supported the South-eastern Europe multinational force, which would be based in Greece until 2017.

On the same day, Avramopoulos also received a joint a delegation of representatives of the Hellenic-American organisations AHI and AHEPA, as well as of US American-Israeli organisations, on the occasion of their visit to Greece, Cyprus and Israel. Avramopoulos briefed the delegations on the developments of the Hellenic-Israeli and Hellenic-American relations, as well as on the initiatives undertaken by Greece for the establishment of peace, security, stability and cooperation in South-eastern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean.

With regard to relations with Israel, the Minister said that they develop in an excellent manner across all areas and, of course, defence. "Our bilateral relations do not turn against others. On the contrary, they remain within the context of the International Law and in the service of international organisations in order to promote peace and cooperation in our region," he stated and explained that organising common exercises is a message of peace and a guarantee of stability.