Log in
A+ A A-

Greece needs different policy that leads to growth

Greece needs a different policy, one that leads to growth and is socially just, Greece's Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said in joint statements with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier to the press ahead of their meeting, on Tuesday.

"The issue isn't whether we will pay our debts - that is what we have been doing all this time," he pointed out, noting that Athens was asking for understanding.
"We cannot continue the policy that was imposed on us because our society in the process of collapse, our production base has almost disappeared and there is no economic growth. And without growth, we cannot pay off debts. Germany know this, with the agreements of 1952-1953 - it has extensive experience. We want a different policy that will lead to growth, that will inspire the people to participate in this process and not watch with apathy as their country falls apart," he said. 

He also stressed that, in his view, it was important for Greece to be treated as an equal partner.
The German minister, however, noted that the new Greek government's change of course "created some questions"
“We await with interest the specific proposals Greece will table in the new few days,” Steinmeier said, regarding both reforms for the Greek economy and on whether the Greek bailout programme will continue. He also said that the election outcome in Greece is respected but Greece, on its part, must also respect the agreements with its partners. 

Kotzias underlined that the policy adopted to deal with the crisis in Greece had led "only to failures", unemployment and poverty and said that Greece, "in collaboration with our friends in Germany and the EU wants to succeed in giving back hope to the country" and to let people believe that there was a future.
He acknowledged the need for reforms but said these must not be at the expense of the majority of the Greek people but reforms that fight tax evasion, tax avoidance and the oligarchy. Kotzias noted that not even the laws of capitalism currently worked in Greece, since no oligarch had collapsed in spite of the deep depression.
"We hope that in the reform programme we will have Europe's support. Because it is a socially just programme that meets the hopes and expectations of the Greek people," he said.

Steinmeier additionally referred to the issue of the forced loan extracted from Greece by the Nazi occupation regime in WWII and to war reparations. He repeated Berlin's firm position that Germany is aware of the political and moral responsibility for “the atrocities committed in Greece in 1941-44 but nothing changes in our position from the legal point of view. We adhere firmly to the position that all the issues of reparations, including the occupation loans, are definitively and legally settled.”

Steinmeier also said that Greece should remember clearly the speech delivered by the German president, in which he expressed the same position using the proper words. He added that “it wasn't just words,” noting that during the preparations for the (German president's) visit and the actual visit, ideas were created which have already been implemented, including the Greek-German Youth Congress, the Greek-German Fund for the Future designed to deal with questions from the past that weren't adequately processed.

Asked if in the meeting with his German counterpart he will raise the issue of the forced occupation loan and war reparations, Kotzias replied that he brought with him to Berlin an excerpt of the prime minister's speech that raised the issue, adding that everything discussed in Parliament is posted on the foreign ministry's website. He also said that “the reason our government is so popular is not just our political views but the fact that we try to bring hope to the country.” 

Commenting on today's statement by Defence Minister Panos Kammenos that there is a “Plan B” in case Germany insists on its tough line, Kotzias underlined that Greece wants a European solution, discusses with the European Union but it will also listen to all sides that want to give their solidarity. “We want a European solution, but one that is different from the one we had until now,” he stated. 
Tagged under

News for

Tools

About Us

Follow Us