Diplomats talk before US visit
The scheduled visit to Washington next Tuesday by Prime Minister George Papandreou, for talks with US President Barack Obama on Greece’s financial problems, dominated a discussion yesterday between Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas and US Ambassador in Athens Daniel Speckhard. The ambassador said that talks would touch on «a range of strategic issues» as well as Greece’s fiscal problems, noting that «President Obama is very much looking forward to this meeting with the Greek prime minister.» According to Greek diplomats, the «strategic issues» on the talks agenda include ongoing efforts to solve a dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia regarding the latter’s official name, stalled peace talks aimed at reunifying Cyprus and tensions in the Aegean. The diplomats said that Papandreou would seek closer cooperation between Athens and Washington in attempts to solve these and other regional issues.
