BURGENSTOCK. SWITZERLAND – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on June 16 on the sidelines of the International Conference for Peace in Ukraine that was held in Bergenstock, Switzerland.

During the meeting, issues related to the Patriarchate were discussed, while satisfaction was expressed for the fact that there is positive movement on the issue of Turkey reopening the Theological School of Halki, near Constantinople.

The Prime Minister informed Bartholomew of his intention to visit Constantinople in the near future to discuss issues concerning the Patriarchate and the Greek-American Community.

Mitsotakis has been in Switzerland June 15 for the International Peace Conference which was attended by around 90 heads of state, governments, and organizations, including almost all EU leaders.

During the first day of the Conference, the Prime Minister took part in the proceedings and then had a 4-on-4 meeting which included the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, ahead of the Summit of the leaders of the European People’s Party (EPP), that took place on June 17 in Brussels, a few hours before the informal dinner of the EU leaders, where the results of the European elections and the persons who will assume the important European offices will be discussed.

Before dinner, the leaders gathered for the ‘family photo’, with the Prime Minister taking the seat between U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is attending the Conference in place of President Joe Biden, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and behind the two co-organizers, President Zelensky of Ukraine and President Viola Amhert of Switzerland.

Mitsotakis participated in the thematic working group whose subject was food security.

During his presentation Mitsotakis emphasized the significant implications of the war in Ukraine for food security throughout the world and the importance of uninterrupted provision of basic food supplies. He noted that the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Corridors and the export corridor developed by Ukraine have expanded exports, stressing that Greece supports, on the one hand, the creation of additional routes to facilitate the transport of Ukrainian agricultural products, and on the other hand, projects to increase the capacity of the Solidarity Corridors and their direct access to the Aegean.

Greece, Mitsotakis added, will continue to do everything possible to strengthen food security by providing sea transport or storage and distribution centers. The Prime Minister underlined that the maritime transport routes, both in the Black Sea and the Red Sea, must remain open for the global food supply, adding that Greece, with its merchant fleet, has a particularly important role on that front.