ATHENS — Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias participated in a EU foreign ministers' video conference held earlier on Friday to discuss issues related to the coronavirus. where he presented the way the country is handling the gradual lifting of measures to contain the novel coronavirus, while he was the recipient of several positive comments on the way Greece has addressed the pandemic.

The video conference was an initiative organised by Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and aimed to examine the repercussions of the pandemic, as well as the coordinaton of the further action for cooperation between foreign ministries. Denmark, the Czech Republic, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica and Israel also participated in the meeting.

"Greece is among the countries that reacted quickly and decisively to pandemic's outbreak, effectively protecting its citizens, a fact that has been recognised by the international community," underlined Dendias in a written statement after the end of the meeting. "This was reaffirmed again today as our country was the recipient of many positive comments".

The foreign minister presented the way in which the country is dealing with the gradual lifting of the restrictions "especially in the crucial sector of tourism, aiming at the protection of visitors, as well as employees in this neuralgic sector of the national economy".

Also discussed in the meeting was the issue of the repatriation of those stranded in foreign countries due to the pandemic lockdown, such as seamen, as well as the management of possible new migration flows, Dendias said.

"Finally, we exchanged views in terms of the management of a possible new round of infections and we agreed to monitor the situation closely, in order to react appropriately in case the conditions demand it," he concluded.