FM Dendias meets with counterparts at the EU Gymnich meeting in Helsinki

In a statement, Dendias also said he had also "had the opportunity to meet my counterparts and talk with them about joint interests" on the meeting's sidelines.

"We discussed hybrid threats and their management, and referred to the tense situation at the Gulf and how to find ways of protecting shipping," he said, adding that "it's obvious that Greece is strongly interested in this, as a maritime nation."

He said that his meeting with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas coincided with the visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Berlin, and the Greek FM accepted an invitation to visit Berlin.

Meeting with North Macedonia's Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov for the first time, they discussed aspects of the implementation of the Prespes Agreement, Dendias said, adding that "I explicitly stated to Mr. Dimitrov that Greece will insist on the strict implementation of the Agreement."

At a meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, they agreed on his visiting Sofia on September 10.

Dendias also met on the sidelines with Cyprus Republic Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides.

At the Gymnich, he said, he had the opportunity to "brief my counterparts on the Turkish provocativeness and the problems Turkey creates in the Aegean, as well as on its aggressive behavior against the sovereignty and sovereign rights of the Cyprus Republic."