ATHENS – Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias is visiting Paris on Tuesday, February 22, in order to participate in the Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, organised by the French Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The foreign minister will participate in Greece’s Governmental Council of Foreign Affairs & National Defence (KYSEA), which is underway under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and then is expected to go to Paris, according to diplomatic sources.

The Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific will be attended by EU Foreign Ministers and their counterparts from around 30 Indo-Pacific countries, as well as representatives of European institutions and regional organisations, according to a foreign ministry statement.

The main purpose of the forum is to find ways to consolidate and strengthen relations and ties between the EU and the Indo-Pacific states, based on multilateral diplomacy and respect for international law, including the Law of the Sea.

The inaugural session will be followed by three roundtables on a) security and defence, b) connectivity and digital policy, and c) global issues. The Greek foreign minister will participate in the round table on security and defence.

On the sidelines of the conference, Dendias is expected to have private meetings with his counterparts from the Indo-Pacific region. In particular, with Nanai Mahuta (New Zealand), Retno Marsudi (Indonesia), Chung Eui-yong (Republic of Korea), Dr. Jaishankar (India), Teodoro Locsin (Philippines) and Vivian Balakrishnan (Singapore).