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Greece supports further discussions on Europe security pact

RIA Novosti

13:42 30/11/2009 ATHENS, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - Greece, the current chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, supports further discussions on the European security pact, proposed by Russia's president, a Greek deputy foreign minister said on Monday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev put forward the initiative to work out a treaty on European security in June 2008, proposing that the principle of indivisible security be legally sealed in international law, preventing any state or organization from strengthening their security at the expense of others.

In June this year, the 56 OSCE member states agreed to start a discussion on fundamental security issues. The discussions were named the Corfu Process after the Greek island that hosted the meeting.

"I agree that Greece's additional contribution to OSCE is the so-called Corfu Process. The Greek chairmanship used President Medvedev's new European security treaty as a starting point for a constructive dialogue on the issue," Dimitris Droutsas said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

The deputy foreign minister said the discussions would continue during the OSCE foreign ministers' meeting to be held in Athens on December 1-2.

The diplomat reiterated that energy projects with Russia remained a priority for his country, adding that Greece was seeking to ensure ample energy supplies and become a European energy hub.

"Both Burgas-Alexandroupolis and South Stream are the unchanged priorities in our policy," he said. "We are taking all the necessary steps to complete them as soon as possible."

Burgas-Alexandroupolis is a project between Russia, Greece and Bulgaria to pump Russian and Caspian oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupolis.

Once completed, the pipeline will pump 35 million metric tons of oil a year (257 million bbl), a volume that could eventually be increased to 50 million metric tons (368 million bbl). Under an intergovernmental agreement signed in 2007, Russia holds 51% in the project company, while Greece and Bulgaria hold 24.5% each.

In 2008, Greece also joined the Russian-Italian South Stream gas project, which is a part of Russia's efforts to cut dependence on transit nations and is a rival project to the EU-backed Nabucco, which would bypass Russia. It is scheduled to be completed by 2015.