Athens, 11 April 2025 (MIA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski, in a conversation with MIA's Athens correspondent, highlights potential for further development of bilateral cooperation with Greece in several areas, noting that possible investments from Greece have been announced. 

The Foreign Minister is attending the 10th Delphi Economic Forum, marking his first time participating in the traditional annual conference, and on Thursday he met with his Greek counterpart, Giorgos Gerapetritis.

In the conversation with MIA's Athens correspondent, Mucunski highlighted the possibility of deepening cooperation, adding that he has held a series of bilateral meetings with the Greek Foreign Minister as part of a great number of conferences the two have attended.

"We have good mutual relations, and know the importance of being NATO members in a region that has its own specificities. We believe that the bilateral cooperation has a lot of room for development, especially in the area of ​​energy, in the area of ​​infrastructure, as well as mutual political cooperation. So it was one of several positive meetings and I hope that the same dynamics will continue," the Minister said. 

He expressed satisfaction as regards his participation in the forum, noting that it is a forum that brings together politics, the business community and the civil sector, as well as many representatives from the academic community, "which means there is a comprehensive approach in terms of the participants who are here."

"We are making more contacts that are not only focused on political relations, but also on ​​economic relations, investments. We already have announcements of several potential investments from Greece that we expect to finalize in our country in the coming period, and from that point of view, I would say that there was an opportunity for a positive discussion, to talk about specific projects and to talk more about what unites us as countries," the Minister told MIA in Delphi. 

Minister Mucunski took part Thursday in a panel discussion on EU-US relations, commenting on the country’s EU perspective, the EU enlargement, relations with the US, and transatlantic cooperation, while he began his address by expressing gratitude to Greece and the Greek people for their assistance to our country following the tragic fire at the Kochani nightclub, a gesture that was met with applause from the audience.

Speaking about EU enlargement with the Western Balkans, he said it is not only an economic necessity, but a prerequisite for lasting political and security stability across Europe. He pointed out that the EU allows a vacuum to exist in the Western Balkans, due to 'the gap between commitments and delivery, or between promises made in our region and the lack of delivery'.

“The message we are sending to Brussels and the member states is that it is necessary to find a clear path for the Western Balkans to move forward and a way to close the gap between commitments, the numerous windows of opportunity promised to us in the past, a phrase often used, 'now is the opportunity, now is the momentum,' but the delivery from the European Union has always been lacking. From this perspective, what I can say is that one of the strongest tangible supporters of the European Union's enlargement has always been the United States, and this is something we need to keep in mind. Yes, the US is not a member of the EU, but the United States has an interest in the stability of the region,” Mucunski underlined.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski is leaving Delphi for Antalya where he will participate in an international conference, while from Türkiye he is travelling for meetings in Luxembourg.

Photo/video: MIA