EU Council presidency trio meet Greek PM Tsipras

Representatives of Malta, the Netherlands and Slovakia – the ‘trio’ of nations who will hold the EU presidency in 2017 – met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the Maximos Mansion in Athens.

Malta was represented by parliamentary secretary for the EU funds and the 2017 presidency Ian Borg, while Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders represented the Netherlands and Slovak foreign minister Mirosalv Lajčák represented Slovakia.

The Trio Presidency delegations were the guests of the Greek Minister for European Affairs Nikos Xydakis, and discussed migration challenges.

Other EU ministers participating in these talks included French minister for European affairs Harlem Desir, Portuguese secretary of state for European affairs Margarida Marques, and Italian undersecretary of state for European affairs Sandro Gozi.

In a statement, Borg said that the delegation members all expressed their solidarity with Greece in the face of its current migration crisis.

“A solid foundation has been laid, thanks to the work done by the European Commission and other agencies, and it is now time to work on structuring and on a sustainable solution,” Borg said.