EU foreign ministers will discuss security in Europe, said Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias when addressing the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, noting that “it is something very interesting Greece” following his visit to Mariupol and Moscow.
“I will also have the opportunity to draw the attention to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Mr. Kuleba, who is present, to the security issues of the Greek minority in Mariupol and its wider area,” added Dendias.
In particular, the Foreign Minister said “Today we will discuss security in Europe, something very interesting for us, Greece after my visit to Mariupol and also Moscow.”
“I will also have the opportunity to draw the attention to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Mr. Kuleba, who is present, to the security issues of the Greek minority in Mariupol and its wider area,” he added.
It is recalled that an ethnic Greek was killed by Ukrainian soldiers last week in the city of Mariupol in southern Donetsk (eastern Ukraine) because he was speaking Russian.
The Greek Foreign minister then turned his attention to the destabilizing political situation in the Balkans.
“Beyond that, the second very interesting issue is Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Greece’s top diplomat said.
“I think the EU should pay close attention to the issues of the Western Balkans.
“The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is not good.
“Elections are required under an electoral law that ensures the unity of the country.
“I think we will have a very interesting exchange of views on this and I look forward to hearing with particular interest the views of my Croatian colleague.”
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels must take decisions to stop a “critical” crisis in Bosnia becoming worse, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday.
Bosnia has been going through its worst political crisis since the end of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, with Bosnian Serbs challenging state institutions as part of their long-time bid to secede and eventually join neighboring Serbia, Swiss Info reported.
“The nationalists’ and separatists’ rhetoric is increasing in Bosnia-Herzegovina and jeopardizing the stability and even the integrity of the country,” Borrell, who is attending Monday’s meeting, told reporters.
“The ministers have to take decisions about how to stop this dynamic in Bosnia-Herzegovina and to avoid that the country can fall apart in pieces. This is a critical situation.”
Lawmakers in the Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Sprska, voted on February 10 to form a separate body to choose judges and prosecutors, effectively pulling the region out of the state’s top judicial institution as part of a separatist agenda.