Giorgos Katrougalos

The joint statements on Thursday by Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Antalya, that Ankara should not be excluded from the unfolding energy game in the Eastern Mediterranean, sparked a war of words between the government and opposition New Democracy.

Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos on Thursday expressed the hope that Greece and Turkey can boost understanding and ease tensions following talks in Antalya with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos will meet with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in the province of Antalya in southern Turkey on Thursday, state-run Athens-Macedonian news agency (ANA-MPA) reports.
The two ministers will discuss issues of bilateral, regional and international interest, ANA-MPA says.
Talks will be followed by a joint press conference.

In the wake of recent incendiary rhetoric emanating from Ankara, in particular from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Athens insisted on Tuesday that it is determined to de-escalate tensions and pursue good-neighborly relations.

These intentions were articulated in remarks by Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos and Defense Minister Evangelos Apostolakis.

An inter-ministerial committee involving officials from Greece and North Macedonia is to meet for the first time on Monday under Alternate Foreign Minister Sia Anagnostopoulou.

Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing Monday. "There is a significant alignment of interests, precisely because we too endeavor that our country becomes a bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa," Katrougalos said in a statement. [Reuters]

The case for the retroactive payment of bonuses to millions of pensioners is evolving into an epic judicial saga, with claims ranging according to the amount of each pension and the claim period. However, estimates see the total fiscal cost of the verdicts coming to around 4.2 billion euros a year.

US Ambassador to Athens Geoffrey Pyatt has hailed the launching of the Strategic Dialogue between the United States and Greece as capping a year of historic progress in relations between the two NATO allies, while emphasizing that the strengthening of bilateral ties enjoys cross-party support.

The United Nations secretary-general's special envoy for Cyprus, Jane Hall Lute, is in Athens on Tuesday, where she will meet with Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos at 10.30 a.m., the ministry has announced.

Lute and Katrougalos are expected to discuss efforts to retstart reunification talks on the divided island after they stalled last year.

Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos (fifth in from left) convened a session of the National Council for Foreign Affairs on Friday to discuss Greek-Turkish relations and the impact of Brexit, among other issues.