Greek Ag. Min. Lefteris Avgenakis with EU counterparts in Thessaly

A delegation of EU Agriculture Ministers will be in the affected areas in Thessaly today, Thursday, November 9, 2023, at the invitation of the Ministry of Rural Development, Lefteris Avgenakis.

This is a continuation of the visit of the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries, Janus Wojciechowski, which took place on 5 October.

The delegation consists of his ministerial counterparts: of Bulgaria, Kiril Vatev, of Cyprus, Petros Xenophontos, of Malta, Anton Refalo and the Deputy Minister of Slovenia, Eva Knez. The delegation also includes the Ambassadors of Spain, Carles Casajuana, of Croatia, Aleksandar Sunko, and of Malta, Joseph Cuschieri, as well as officials from the governments of countries that have sent delegations.

The visit to Thessaly began with the agricultural businesses, livestock units and crops that were hit by the floods

“Through the first conversations we exchanged, we agreed that the destruction suffered by the plain is a European issue, and as such we must, collectively, face it! Their presence in Thessaly strengthens the interest of the European family in the crisis our country is going through and the effort we are putting into its recovery, and I thank them warmly”, emphasizes Mr. Avgenakis in his post on social media.

Yesterday, Lefteris Avgenakis received in his office his Maltese counterpart, Anton Refalo and the Maltese Ambassador to Greece, Joseph Cuschieri. They discussed the fields in which there is a possibility of strengthening the cooperation of the two countries, with livestock breeding and fishing in the Mediterranean being at the center.

The common denominator is climate change

He then met with the Slovenian Deputy Minister, Eva Knez, with whom they mainly discussed the difficulties faced and faced by the two countries with a common denominator of the climate crisis as, corresponding to the bad weather Daniel, Slovenia faced, at the beginning of August, a severe wave bad weather with intense floods that caused destruction in a large part of the country. As in the case of Greece, Slovenia has requested support from the 2024 Agricultural Reserve.

At the meetings, they exchanged views on initiatives that should be developed jointly by the Mediterranean countries to create a permanent mechanism to deal with crises caused by severe weather phenomena, in the primary sector.