Greece’s Foreign Minister George Papandreou and Secretary of State Colin Powell met in Washington yesterday, during a visit in which Papandreou was honored by Parliamentarians for Global Action for his work during Greece’s recent EU presidency. Papandreou said he believed US-European differences over a UN Security Council resolution on Iraq would be over ‘quite soon.’ ‘There is a genuine desire to see a stable Iraq,’ he said.

Foreign Minister George Papandreou met with Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in Washington yesterday.

“We discussed many issues, such as Iraq, the Middle East, the situation in the Balkans. We focused, from our side, on the Cyprus issue, Turkey’s progress toward Europe and the strategic importance of this, as well as the need to see issues, especially Cyprus, as part of this,” Papandreou said. He and Powell also discussed security for the Athens 2004 Olympics and international cooperation in this field.

On Cyprus, after his talks with Rice, Papandreou said, “I stressed that the United States’ continued support for the UN’s efforts, its persistent pursuit of a just solution in accordance with UN resolutions, is something we will appreciate and will help solve the Cyprus issue.”