“Our policy is modern patriotism – fearless and without isolation but with a strong society, economy and partnerships,” said the Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyanni in her lecture for the “Konstantinos Karamanlis” Institute. It is an interesting coincidence that some time before, one of the biggest foreign-political adversaries of the Greek foreign minister, the Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski defined his own politics as modern nationalism.

In front of the full hall in the Athenian hotel “Grand Bretania,” Dora Bakoyanni defined the strategic goal of the foreign policy as a protection of the national interest as:

-      Wide consensus between the Parties

-      Reserved and responsible national strategy with long-term and not short-term goals.

-      Behaving as a European power and not regional that is only interested by local problems.

“We are not a poor relative to the world table anymore. We are everywhere – in the EU, in NATO, in the UN and in the OSCE. We provide humanitarian help for Lebanon, Gaza and we are playing an important role in the global energy charter,” underlined Greek’s first diplomat. She reminded that Greece is part of the main body of the EU and is working for one stronger European identity, which will speak together and will cooperate on all topics with the USA. Dora Bakoyanni defined the upcoming European parliament elections as crucial for the victory of the uprising euro-skepticism in Europe.

The Greek foreign minister announced the support of her country for the European membership in the Balkan countries. She reminded how Athens helped out Bulgaria and Romania for their Euro-Atlantic integration. At the same time she said that she will not back up regarding letting Macedonia into the Euro-Atlantic integration if it doesn’t change its name. Dora Bakoyanni expressed her gratitude to all Greeks living abroad for their help in clarifying the Greek standpoint for Macedonia's name through all levels and forums.