Crisis in Middle East, Mediterranean dominates Kotzias' bilateral contacts in Athens
The crisis in Syria and the surrounding regions in the Middle East and Mediterranean dominated bilateral contacts between Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and foreign officials visiting Athens to attend an International Conference on “Religious and Cultural Pluralism and Peaceful Coexistence in the Middle East” organised by the foreign ministry, which ended on Tuesday.
The minister's meetings on the sidelines of the two-day conference included talks with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, Cyprus Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders and the UN mediator for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
He also held talks with religious leaders attending the conference, such as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilos, Orthodox Archbishop of Albania Anastasios, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus and Toronto Metropolitan Sotirios.
Kotzias is scheduled to meet his Bulgarian counterpart Daniel Mitov at 11:00 on Wednesday and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland on Wednesday afternoon at 16:30.
