The 31st Meeting of the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), was held in Thessaloniki, on December 12. Addressing the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that the guiding principle of the Hellenic BSEC Chairmanship-in-Office was to promote BSEC - the oldest, most representative and institutionally mature regional economic organization in the wider Black Sea area - as the appropriate vehicle for developing concrete projects.

The priorities of the Greek BSEC Chairmanship-in-Office were summarized under the motto "Building Support for Economic Cooperation." Hence, it put a special emphasis on the promotion of sectoral cooperation, specifically healthcare, tourism, and transport.

Greece held the BSEC chairmanship in the second half of 2014 and during the 31st Meeting handed it over to Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Natalia Gherman, who congratulated Venizelos on having met the targets.

Venizelos met with his Turkish counterpart Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu on the margins of the meeting of BSEC member states in Thessaloniki. Cavusoglu proposed that the two meet with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades when he returns to Cyprus from his trip to the US – where he has recently undergone heart surgery.

The two ministers discussed recent developments in Cyprus and Venizelos raised the issue of Turkey’sencroachment of Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),  reiterating that its presence in the area constitutes a brutal violation of Cyprus Republic’s sovereign rights. The Turkish survey vessel Barbaros has been carrying out seismic explorations for oil and gas inside Cyprus’s maritime zone since mid-October. The meeting was held a week after the Greek-Turkish High Level Cooperation Council took place in Athens, which received positive media reports.

See also: Statements by DPM & FM at press conference following the 31st Meeting of the BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers (12.12.2014)