ATHENS – There was a great deal of room for cooperation between Greece and Gabon in matters relating to the international law of the sea and maritime communications security, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Friday, after a meeting with Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

“It was for me a great joy and a great honour to be the first Greek minister to visit the country,” Dendias said after the meeting. He reported a very interesting discussion with President Ondimba on possible areas of cooperation with Greece, including the protection of the environment.

Dendias pointed out that Gabon has a great many forests that it protects and a large population of elephants that are also protected.

They also discussed investments and assistance from Greece in tackling Covid, such as the 200,000 vaccine shots from the Greek government that Dendias delivered to Gabon earlier on Friday.

The minister said he had also conveyed an invitation from President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou inviting Gabon’s president to visit Greece.

“Relations between Greece and Gabon are emerging relations but we have a great interest in a fertile mutual ground to develop these relations,” Dendias said, noting that Gabon has been elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council from 2022 with the support of Greece.