Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos met with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, in Paris, yesterday. The two officials discussed Greece’s EU Presidency priorities focusing on growth, jobs, the social state, illegal migration, border protection and the banking union.

Referring to the crisis in Syria, Venizelos pledged that Greece's EU presidency will work for a successful outcome at the Geneva II peace process, adding that attention should be drawn to the humanitarian aspects of Syria’s crisis. Other issues discussed included Iran, the Middle East peace process, developments in Arab states, such as Egypt and Libya, and the Eastern Partnership with Russia and the Ukraine.

Fabius stressed that France will be "at Greece's side" and support the country's EU presidency, expressing his certainty that this will be "successful." He added that Greek and French views "fully coincided" and agreed that priority should be given to growth and jobs, the banking union and labour issues.

The two foreign ministers described bilateral relations between the two countries as excellent; Fabius called for "a more active economic and investment presence by French businesses in Greece" and accepted an invitation from Venizelos to visit Greece.

Venizelos also met with French Financial Minister Pierre Moscovici and discussed the Greek economy and the implementation of the Greek economic adjustment program.