The visit of the four ambassadors of the Visegrad countries to Greece, Anna Barbarzak of Poland, Jan Bondy of the Czech Republic, Erik Haupt of Hungary and Peter Michalko of Slovakia, received last Monday in his office, the South Aegean regional governor, Mr. George Hatzimarkos.

During the ceremonial visit, a wide-ranging debate was held on issues pertaining to the regions of the five countries and their specific characteristics, and the areas and possibilities for cooperation between the regions were explored in areas of common interest such as tourism, culture, gastronomy and trade.

Mr. Hatzimarkos presented to the four ambassadors the profile of the South Aegean Region as the largest island region, which receives the largest percentage of incoming tourism in Greece, along with the problems arising from insularity and the need, the special policies for the island regions of Europe, not to have an optional but binding character for the Member States.

Mr Hatzimarkos welcomed as very positive the ambassadors of the four countries to promote interregional cooperation in areas of common interest, given that Rhodes and the southern Aegean islands are extremely popular tourist destinations in these countries. In order for today’s meeting to continue and not be exhausted at the level of etiquette, the district governor proposed to the four ambassadors to explore possible areas of cooperation between the South Aegean Region and the regions of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, depending on the specific characteristics of the Regions.

A debate was also held on the conquest of the title of the Gastronomy Region of Europe in 2019, in the context of which Mr. Chatzimarkos proposed the co-organization of four major culinary events in the capitals of the countries, in cooperation with the Chamber of Dodecanese and the Foreign Affairs Council. through B2B meetings with the business community of these countries, to expand cooperation in other areas.

As far as tourism is concerned, Mr. Chatzimarkos suggested exploring the possibility of cooperating with the airlines of the four countries for flights to the islands of the South Aegean with international airports in off season seasons.

Mr. Chatzimarkos also made a reference to the refugee and immigration crisis, which was a negative record for the southern Aegean islands, of which over 30% of the total refugee flow that has moved to Europe over the last two years. He also noted that it was a negative surprise for the islanders to close the border from the Visegrad countries, but added that despite the difficult circumstances, we managed to keep the relations between our regions untouched.

Upon completion of the meeting, the South Aegean regional governor said: “Close cooperation and dialogue between the peoples of Europe is a fundamental prerequisite to tackling the great challenges of the day. True to the beginning of the dialogue, we are moving forward together in building a constructive future for the peoples of the whole of Europe. “