Director General for Development and Humanitarian Assistance of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Alexandros Diakopoulos,participated in the EU Development Directors General Meeting which was held on 5-6 April 2022 in Paris. The first session of the Meeting, was on the consequences of the invasion of Ukraine and the impact of sanctions against Russia on partner countries in the field of development cooperation, encompassing but not limited to the impacts on food security and energy.Mr. Diakopoulos mentioned that it is important for the EU to consider an immediate but also long-term support to countries mostly affected by the crisis using all available tools including the rapid response pillar of NDICI-GE. It is of utmost importance to re-purpose projects and reallocate funding towards countries in need in order to support their resilience, ensure the security of food supply chains and reduce energy dependencies.
The Meeting focused also on the implementation of the outcomes of the EU-African Union Summit and the Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, both held on February 2022 as well as the Global Gateway strategy. The EU Development Directors General discussed the formulation of the European flagships Team Europe Initiatives and the options for more active participation of the European financing institutions and development banks, in this regard. Representatives of the European financing and development cooperation agencies participated in this last session of the Meeting.