Moscow, 30 November 2021 (TDI): This afternoon, Deputy Minister of Defence of Russia, Colonel-General Alexander Fomin was joined by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Militadis Varvitsiotis.
The two Ministers signed minutes on amendments to the agreement prevention of incidents at sea outside the territorial waters. This is part of the Russian-Greek inter-governmental amendment as of 10 April 2021.
OBJECTIVES OF AMENDMENT
This official signing took place during the proceedings of the thirteenth session of the joint Russian-Greek commission on economic, industrial, and scientific-technical cooperation. Both postponed this conference, last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hence, this recent action implements both countries’ efforts to strengthen bilateral relations. Simultaneously, it also aims to protect the communities residing in and outside of the territorial waters joining Russia and Greece.
The amendment’s objective is to ensure that individuals traveling through ships and flights of aircraft can safely navigate the vicinity. These individuals are usually members of the armed forces from the participating countries of the agreement.
The danger rises when their vehicles are near each other, thus this agreement aims to develop strategies to prevent collisions. Particularly, outside the territorial seas, where there is a greater risk, such an initiative helps combat this issue and provides security.
OVERVIEW OF GREECE-RUSSIA BILATERAL RELATIONS
According to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russia and Greece established diplomatic relations over 185 years ago. Greece has an Embassy in Moscow, and two general consulates in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and one in Novorossiysk. On the other side, Russia has an embassy in Athens, and one consulate general in Thessaloniki.
Several Russian Universities teach the Greek language, many of them renowned, and a significant number of Russian citizens with Greek origin reside in the southern Russian periphery.
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