Translated material
Argonauts will help Georgia and Moldova
-- A little more than a year has passed since our previous meeting (see “Vremya Novostei” dated October 3, 2005) . How are Russian-Greek relations developing?
- Our political contacts have become so strong that they are maintained constantly and at the highest level. There is a Russian-Greek intergovernmental commission, which on your part is headed by the Minister of Agriculture Alexey Gordeev. During the year, interministerial agreements on energy, agriculture, and tourism were concluded. Political relations have reached a radically new level.
In the energy sector, we have achieved a strategic partnership. This can be seen in the example of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project. After 13 years of delay, significant progress has been made. No less impressive achievements in bilateral trade. The project of supplying Greek wines to Russia, which is supervised by Minister Gordeev, is moving forward. Russian capital is invested in high technology and banking services in Greece. Greek investments come to Russia in construction, services, and trade. Greece has simplified the visa procedure for Russians as much as possible, and the number of your tourists has immediately increased. The Greek consulate in Moscow already issues 3.5 thousand visas per day.
— Some people in the European Union sometimes accuse Russia of energy blackmail...
-- Russia is the world's leading player in the energy sector. Europe needs energy and cooperation with Russia to obtain it. Greece, as a member of the EU and at the same time a strategic partner of Russia, seeks to play a mediating role in this process. The European Union in the energy sector is based on two principles: alternative sources of energy resources and routes for their delivery and the need to use different types of energy. European thinking rejects monopoly in any field. But this does not diminish the role of Russia. Firstly, because your country has all types of energy in huge quantities. And secondly, no alternative sources outside Russia will be able to cover the needs of the European Union. We all live as if in a glass tower - and we should not throw stones at each other.
— What is the idea behind the Greek project to create a single modern highway encircling the Black Sea, called the “Path of the Argonauts”?
-- This highway will create a single regional market and will promote the development of trade, tourism, political and cultural ties. With a length of about 7,000 km, it largely coincides with the direction of oil and gas pipelines, with the lines of the electric power ring. Construction has already been completed on many sections of the highway.
The “Path of the Argonauts” will also pass through conflict zones in Moldova and Georgia. And we hope that there it will play the role of a “road of peace”, will push the participants to joint actions and will have, so to speak, an educational character. It is no coincidence that the myth of the Argonauts, who opened new horizons and reached a new level of perception of the world, was chosen as the symbol of the project. This is what we need in the Black Sea region.
- Next to Greece there is another conflict area - Kosovo...
- The Western Balkans are a very sensitive area, you need to be extremely careful here. Greece maintains good relations with all its neighbors and actively uses the fact that it is a member of both the EU and NATO in the interests of the Kosovo settlement. A viable and effective solution to the Kosovo problem can only be one that is agreed upon and accepted by all parties to the conflict. We are engaged in dialogue with both the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians and strive to wean the region's politicians from negative perceptions of each other. The entire Balkans, down to the smallest community, must embrace European values, because this is the only way to ensure their development, overcome poverty and strengthen peace.