Dendias meets with Lavrov at Munich forum

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias outlined Greece’s concerns stemming from Turkey’s stance in the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya at Friday’s Munich Security Conference.

However, his most important bilateral meeting was with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, given the fluctuating relations between Ankara and Moscow on the northern Syrian front – which Athens believes has caused Turkish jitters which in turn have led to aggressive moves in the Aegean and the East Mediterranean. 

Moreover, Moscow has adopted a consistent stance regarding the situation in Cyprus, where Turkey has sought to interrupt Nicosia’s energy plans in recent years. 

On the sidelines of the conference he also met with his North Macedonian counterpart Nikola Dimitrov and had a brief conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Democrat senator Bob Menendez. 

Dendias held talks with representatives of the major German political parties too, including Annalena Baerbock, the co-chair of the German Greens Party, and Johann Wadephul, the vice president of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) alliance’s parliamentary group. 

The Greens are considered to be a rising power in Germany and are tipped to play a pivotal role in the formation of the country’s next government after the federal elections of 2021. 

He also had bilateral meetings with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius and United Arab Emirates Minister of State Anwar Gargash, while he signed a memorandum of understanding on tourism and the abolition of visas with his Mongolian counterpart Damdin Tsogtbaatar.

Moreover, Dendias also participated in the round-table discussion on Balkan security.