Olive Group ministers meet in Cyprus

Cyprus will host the 5th Informal Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Mediterranean EU member states on Thursday and Friday at the Aphrodite Hills Resort in Paphos. This informal meeting is convened twice a year, at the beginning of each EU Presidency in order to coordinate and strengthen cooperation among the Mediterranean countries, members of the EU.

The participating Foreign Ministers are expected to discuss regional and international issues such as the Middle East peace process, migration, the Natural Disaster Response Mechanism, Kosovo and the establishment of a Mediterranean Union.

The meeting will be chaired by Cyprus Foreign Minister Erato–Kozakou Marcoullis who will also have bilateral meetings with her counterparts.

The participants include foreign ministers Dimitrij Rupel (Slovenia), Dora Bakoyannis (Greece), Massimo D’Alema (Italy), Michael Frendo (Malta), Luis Amado (Portugal), Andrian Cioroianu (Romania), and Miguel Angel Moratinos (Spain), as well as the Greek Deputy Minister Ioannis Valinakis, the Under Secretary of State of Italy Famiano Crucianelli, Todor Churov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, and Pierre Menat, Director of European Cooperation, Foreign Ministry of France.