Athens , 7 March 2011

[On the upcoming European Council Meeting]

·       Today begins a critical week, in the sense that we have the European Council of the Eurozone, the 17, on Friday, 11 March, which will also prepare for the even more critical spring European Council on 24-25 March. On Friday morning there will also be an extraordinary European Council – of the 27 – on Libya and developments in general, with regard to which we and the Italians got the illegal migration issue on the agenda. Greece is going to this European Council with a very clear position.

Our position is that we believe that the time has finally come – and we are not alone in this – for a comprehensive solution, a package solution, that fundamentally and effectively – rather than provisionally, for a few days – treats the issue of the debt and stability of the Eurozone. This means, very simply, a mechanism with adequate funding for flexible intervention in the government bond markets; for there to be a favourable interest rate for countries with a problem, so that it is feasible to deal with the debt. And at the same time, for us in particular, the issue of the extension, on which there is an agreement in principle. And this does not concern just Greece. It concerns the whole of the Eurozone.

The second part – within the framework of the debate that has opened regarding the competitiveness of the European market – we are saying that we are discussing the enhancement of these policies. The European market needs to become more competitive, but on two conditions.

First of all, that competitiveness is not limited to the financial side, because we know that the Franco-German proposal was a little limited in this direction. For us, competitiveness has to include the element of convergence. It has to include the element of development. It has to include social dialogue, and we have been successful here at this point, with other countries. And this is important: for there to be a flexible mindset; that is, for goals to be set on the European level, on the one hand, but for the mix of policies and the means for their implementation to be up to each member state.

·       Germany has a very big say, but there will be 17 countries at the table. Experience says that things are always difficult, but in the end there is compromise. A lot of things come together for there to be a decision. What is important is for the decision to be a good one. Because, don’t forget, if there appears to have been calm in recent weeks regarding the so-called market reactions, it was in anticipation of a solution. And if there isn’t a decision, Greece won’t be the country with the biggest problem the next day – other countries will. Greece, in the final analysis, is supported by a mechanism, and we are simply trying to improve the conditions under which we are operating. The second argument is that the broader developments in our region – skyrocketing petroleum prices, geopolitical instability, the migration crisis we referred to earlier – all these point to the fact that the European leadership – and this concerns Germany – needs to take decisions, and the stability of the Eurozone is not just financial: it is also political and social.

·       If it had not proven feasible last year – after the huge battle waged by George Papandreou – to point up the European dimension of and responsibility for the crisis, and if we hadn’t had the mechanism for Greece, we would have faced bankruptcy, with everything that that means for the country. And New Democracy would have to explain itself regarding where it had taken the country: to the verge of disaster.

·       Today, Europe is discussing a comprehensive solution and a permanent crisis mechanism; a package that we are fighting to make as good as possible. It is because Greece went first into battle that there is a European mechanism.

·       Because this is a week in which Greece will do battle, I will end on a positive note. The Prime Minster is seeing the party leaders tomorrow. The domestic front is of vital importance. I will accept that we don’t agree on everything. It is natural for each party to have its own policy, but there is also common ground in this European battle. I will say something positive. At the meeting of the European Peoples’ Party, Mr. Samaras supported Greek positions, positions tabled by the Greek Prime Minister, including the issue of European bonds and interest rates, so there should be a domestic front, and I hope this will be expressed, because it strengthens the overall effort ahead of Friday. So I think the battle is what is most important at this stage.

[On the issue of the migrants on hunger strike in the “Ypatia” building and the issue of illegal migration]

·       Mass legalization is not provided for by European legislation. What is provided for is for each case to be judged individually based on the criteria and provisions of the legislation. I want to say a few words about this specific case, and a few words in general on the major issue of migration.

Regarding the specific case, I think that what we need to reach for now, on all sides, is openness to alternatives. Everyone with a say and some impact on developments needs to influence them to accept the government’s proposal. It is a proposal of a humanitarian nature. It makes it possible for a solution to be found – a way out of the impasse. I remind you that the government came back on Friday and said that it will give provisional six-month permits, with the potential for renewal for another six months. And each case will be judged within this framework, because – as you said, Mr. Arvanitis – there are those among the hunger strikers that may satisfy the criteria, when their cases have been examined, for a permanent residency permit. So what is most important right now is for reason and flexibility to prevail.

Now, regarding the general issue, Greece is perhaps under more pressure than any of its European partners. According to European data, Frontex data, 90% of illegal migrants enter Europe via our eastern borders.

·       I think it’s possible that there are those who – wishing to raise awareness of this problem – have an intransigent stance; black or white, full legalization or nothing. But that is not how things are, especially in a Greek society that is going through a serious economic crisis. When we know people are at their limit, we have to move in two directions. On the one hand, the modern Greece of 2001 needs at long last to get this legislation, just passed, for the implementation of the Asylum and Infrastructure System, because some 45,000 applications have piled up over the years. And, at the same time, effective border controls, the European dimension of the problem with the Dublin II revision.

And I’ll say something: With the developments in North Africa, there are – for the first time in the six months I have been at the Foreign Ministry – broader alliances being created in favor of Greece. We were a little on our own before Christmas. We talked about Dublin II, and they looked at us funny. They didn’t want to participate in the problem. Now that we have these developments in North Africa, with Italy under pressure and Spain starting to get the jitters again, now all the Mediterranean Ministers are raising the issue jointly, and it will be discussed at Friday’s Meeting.

·       The time is ripe for us to pursue this revision, ahead of 2012, when it would have taken place anyway. And what are we saying? We support the European Commission position that we want there to be solidarity, equal sharing of the burden, and, beyond that, support for the countries under the greatest pressure from migrants. We are more optimistic. We are becoming more optimistic because countries like Italy, on the EU’s southern external borders, are feeling the same pressure, and you see – and this is no coincidence – that the operation of Frontex in the Mediterranean brought a major reduction of this phenomenon.

·       Since October, when they [Frontex] also went to our land borders in Evros – and I think Mr. Papadopoulos will agree here, because it is a common position of all the political forces in Greece that European support for the country’s external borders is in our country’s interest. Because there are broader implications – not just policing. We had a 30% reduction in daily crossings of the Evros river. You’ll say, they will just go elsewhere. They might go elsewhere, but not in the Greek space, because they are communicating vessels.