Name dispute and the idea of confidence building measures were part of the discussions between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kodzias. As Kodzias emphasized after yesterday’s meeting in Washington, they discussed the new initiatives of Greece on national issues, i.e. Greek-Turkish relations and the relations between Macedonia and Greece, with Kerry. Kodzias didn’t provide any detailed explanations on the US stand on the new moments in Macedonian-Greek relations, nor whether there was any new pressure from the US for faster resolution of the dispute.
The Cyprus issue and a detailed discussion of the Greek economy, Greek-Russian relations and the visit of Kodzias and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Moscow were also put on the agenda. The Greek economy, the financial crisis and commitments to international creditors were the main topic of conversation between the two heads of diplomacy. Kerry and Kodzias discussed US financial opportunities to help the state and which could help support Greece to increase confidence in the Greek economy and to increase the number of foreign investments in Greece.
One of the main topics of conversation that suddenly was put under a spotlight was the way Greece handles jailed terrorists, after the announcement of a new Greek law that would allow the prisoners in bad health conditions to be transferred to strict house arrest. This particularly angered the United States because of the case with Savas Ksiros, a member of the terrorist organization 17th of November, responsible for the attacks and the murder of several US diplomats in Athens, who, under this law, could be transferred from prison to house arrest. US strictly responded through a statement of the US State Department, call by Kerry to Tsipras and public statement of the US ambassador in Athens in front of the Greek media.
