Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Monday addressed an Economist conference on Europe and the Arab World, held under the auspices of the Hellenic Presidency of the EU. In his speech, Venizelos stated that “the Greece that is welcoming you today is another Greece. It is the Greece that has started to emerge from the crisis, after eight years of recession.”

Speaking to high ranking EU and Arab officials he pointed to one of the Hellenic Presidency’s most important priorities –the maritime dimension of the European Union; a horizontal maritime policy on the Mediterranean, the common sea of Europe and the Arab world, which focuses on security and migration flows, as well as on opportunities for growth that can restore the Mediterranean’s peaceful dimension. He further referred to the enhancement of the so-called Southern Neighborhood and expressed the hope that “the Arab spring, which bore hopes, will be concluded as a true spring.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos received Monday (May 5) visiting Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby. In a joint statement after their meeting, Venizelos said their talks had focused mainly on the preparations of a meeting between the foreign ministers of the 28 EU member-states and their Arab League counterparts in Athens on June 10-11.

"This is a very major event that is fully aligned with the priorities of the Hellenic Presidency. You know how strong and deep [Greece's] ties are with the Arab world on the bilateral level, so we are working within the European Union with the aim of deepening and promoting the relations between Europe and the Arab world," Venizelos said.