Member states of the European Union

Greek Foreign Minister George Katrougalos met with US Senator Robert Menendez on Tuesday to discuss US-Greek relations, a bill on US strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean and developments in Venezuela, according to state-run news agency ANA-MPA.

President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Monday received US Senator Robert Menendez in a meeting that was also attended by US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt.

Menendez, a Democrat, and Republican Senator Marco Rubio are the architects of the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act which aims to reshape US strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The recent and extremely significant development in the US Senate concerning Greece and Cyprus' future role in Washington's plans for the Eastern Mediterranean stems from the initiatives of the Hellenic diaspora, and also from the strengthening of Greek-Israeli relations over the past decade.

,,The economic co-operation between Bulgaria and Hungary marks a positive development. In 2018 bilateral trade was 1.608 billion with a growth of 5.3%.

Defence Minister Evangelos Apostolakis, the former Chairman of Greece's Joint Chiefs of Staff, has welcomed the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019 as a move that confirms and upgrades Greece's strategic role in the broader region.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, on an official visit to the Slovak Republic, welcomed the fact that the Romanian-Slovak trade has exceeded for the first time the three-billion-euro threshold at the end of 2018.

"Bulgaria is recognized as one of the most competitive investment destinations in Southeastern Europe with proven image and good business development and investment in sectors that create environment and high added value."

Romania's Minister-delegate for European Affairs George Ciamba on Friday had a series of bilateral meetings with Bulgaria's Deputy Foreign Minister Emilia Kraleva Denitsa Zheleva, a foreign policy adviser to Bulgaria's prime minister, on the side-lines of the fifth meeting of the Romania-Bulgaria High-Level Co-operation Council.

Bulgaria is a key-partner for Romania in the region and the commercial exchanges exceeded 4 billion euro last year, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated at the end of the 5th meeting of the High-level Cooperation Council of Romania's and Bulgaria's Governments.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday stated that Romania and the Hellenic Republic have the strongest economies in the Balkans. "Greece went through an economic crisis, but it overcame the crisis and today, with more strength and more optimism, it is looking to the future, while playing the important role it has always played in the Balkan area.