EU should not ignore north African coast, FM Dendias says after meeting Malta FM Borg

Revisionism has no place in modern times and must be condemned regardless of its origin, said Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias after meeting with his visiting counterpart of Malta, Ian Borg, on Thursday.

In a statement after the meeting, in which the two ministers discussed the situation in Ukraine among other issues. Dendias pointed out that although Ukraine is an extremely important issue, “the EU must also pay attention to the Mediterranean basin” and to the northern coast of Africa. If the latter is ignored by the EU, he said, may cause “considerable problems for Europe in many areas including migration and terrorism,” while Europe’s southern borders will also need attention.

Regarding the crisis in Sudan, Dendias said that despite the “extremely unpleasant effects it has on the population and European citizens, it could be an opportunity to intensify our efforts to create a permanent EU forces deployment scheme, especially for extracting EU citizens.”

The two ministers alaso signed a Protocol on Cultural Cooperation, and also discussed further strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation in various sectors, including in economy, tourism and culture, but also collaboration within the EU and EUMED-9, the UN and other international organizations, Dendias tweeted.

Malta currently is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2023-2024, while Greece is hoping to be voted as a non-permanent member for the 2025-2026 period. Dendias thanked Borg for attending Wednesday’s Foreign Ministry event on Greece’s candidacy.

Finally, Dendias mentioned that he asked his counterpart for Malta’s assistance in hosting the 9th “Our Ocean” Conference in 2024, which Malta hosted in 2017, and said he thanked Borg for Malta’s willingness to help with the relevant expertise.