Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis<\/b> met at the Maximou Mansion with Minister of Foreign Affairs of GermanyJohann Wadephul.<\/b><\/p>\n
During the meeting, regional developments were discussed, with a focus on Iran<\/b>, Lebanon <\/b>and the wider Middle East region.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Prime Minister stressed that Europe<\/b> must be present in the region following a peace agreement, adding that it must support the government and armed forces of Lebanon<\/b>.<\/p>\n
They also discussed issues of mutual European interest, such as Euro-Atlantic relations,<\/b> the strengthening of collective European defence and the new Multiannual Financial Framework.<\/p>\n
At the beginning of their meeting, the Prime Minister and the German Foreign Minister<\/b> had the following dialogue:<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Mitsotakis:<\/strong>Welcome to Athens. You come at a time of great turmoil, so we have much to discuss. We are, together with Cyprus, the country closest to what is happening in the Middle East.<\/p>\n We are, of course, very keen to ensure that this situation is resolved peacefully as soon as possible, especially with regard to maintaining freedom of navigation in the Straits of Hormuz.<\/b> Not only as a European country, but also as a country with a leading position in shipping, we consider it imperative that no precedent is set, not only in the region, but also globally. And I am very interested to hear your thoughts on the next steps.<\/p>\n We are a country, as you know and as you discussed with our Minister<\/b>, that maintains, I would say, constructive relations with all the countries in the region, which, in my opinion, makes us reliable bridge-builders. But, of course, to get to the point where we start building bridges, we first have to get past the point where we blow them up.<\/p>\n So, making sure that we get to a point where diplomacy<\/b> is a priority is, I think, a shared priority for our two countries. Welcome, and it’s very good to see you.<\/p>\n