Athens , 12 April 2009

Journalist: Mr. Pavlidis isn’t resigning, and he dropped hints “about those who would throw the cargo overboard”. Could this case bring the government down?

Ms. Bakoyannis: No. This case cannot bring the government down. But it could bring down the law concerning the accountability of ministers. And that might be the only “positive” thing to come out of this whole story. I remind you that when the constitution was revised, I was among the few MPs who supported – at that time – the need for this to change. Now, everyone agrees. The law on ministerial accountability ended up as a law on slandering ministers. Justice has to mean equality before the law. The politician cannot differ from the citizen. If the politician stands accused, he should go to court.

Journalist: When will the law change?

Ms. Bakoyannis: Very soon, I hope. As we saw in Parliament, there is consensus.

Journalist: In the midst of a crisis, the country is facing instability. Are elections the solution, perhaps?

Ms. Bakoyannis: No, elections are not the solution. They will have the opposite effect: they will exacerbate the climate of instability and the economic situation. So that’s not a solution. The solution is for the government to move ahead resolutely with the necessary policy it is following.

Journalist: It was also apparent from Obama’s visit that Turkey, for many reasons, is high on the American agenda. Meanwhile, Greece is absent from that agenda.

Ms. Bakoyannis: First of all, I want to say that the sulk that the international state of affairs has sent some people into is impressive. Greece is not a country whose international presence is limited to bilateral issues: Skopje, Greek-Turkish issues, the Cyprus issue …

Journalist: What else does it do?

Ms. Bakoyannis: I’ll give you a timely example. We are one of the three European countries with the most active presence in the Middle East. With initiatives like “the ship of peace”, with our presence in Lebanon, with our presence in Palestine, with the efforts to encourage the inter-Palestinian dialogue. I think I was only the second European minister to visit Syria. Greece is present today. From the Balkans and Europe, to Africa, Afghanistan, the sea off Somalia. The OSCE Chairmanship gave us the opportunity to further deepen our relations with Russia, with whom we currently maintain privileged bilateral relations. Based on these relations, we have a substantial role in bringing the EU and NATO to the table with Russia. At the same time, we are utilizing our OSCE Chairmanship to expand our presence in the wider region of the Caucasus.

Journalist: Obama came out openly in favour of Turkey’s accession to the EU. We continue to be in favour of this as well, even though there is a different climate in Europe.

Ms. Bakoyannis: Listen, we are the one’s who share a border with Turkey. It is in Greece’s interest to see Turkey, in the long run – if it’s feasible – turn into a modern European democracy. We have been successful in converting all of our issues related to Turkey from bilateral issues into European issues. This was done through quiet but substantial work. For Turkey to move ahead with the necessary reforms concerning its domestic and external conduct, there has to be a clear incentive. And just as clearly as we state our demands to Turkey with regard to fulfilment of the criteria, there has to be the goal of the final outcome. Otherwise, we will see a strengthening of the movement in Turkey that says “Why should we reform and adapt to European standards when we won’t get into the EU anyway?”.

Journalist: But doesn’t Turkey’s being upgraded mean that Greece is weakened on the issue of resolving bilateral differences?

Ms. Bakoyannis: No! That is a short-sighted and simplistic analysis. International politics is not a scale between Turkey and Greece, with everything you put on one side weakening the other. Turkey has its own goals concerning the role it wants to take on in its region. The assessment of Turkey’s usefulness on issues regarding which its geographical position and main religion mark it for a special role has its significance. Meanwhile, Greece is a strong democracy, an old member of the European Union, a leading force in Southeast Europe, with an active, positive role and rising status on the international stage. The normalization of our bilateral relations with Turkey is a very important goal for us. The bilateral issues are linked with international law and Turkey’s European perspective.

Journalist: Did you see any shift on Obama’s part regarding the Bush policy on issues of concern to our country?

Ms. Bakoyannis: The position Hillary Clinton took on the Skopje issue at the Meeting of Foreign Ministers was clearly the Alliance’s decision in Bucharest on the need for a mutually acceptable solution to be found on the name issue. This fact alone has particularly qualitative characteristics, given that U.S. foreign policy had never openly supported this position. Of course, we had the opportunity to present to President Obama our positions on the Cyprus issue and Greek-Turkish issues. We stated Greece’s position in favour of Turkey’s European perspective, as well as our concern at the tensions in the Aegean.

Journalist: Let’s go to intra-New Democracy issues. If Karamanlis loses, should he leave?

Ms. Bakoyannis: This is a non-issue. My opinion is that he will not lose. He maintains a comparative political advantage, and New Democracy has the room – focused and exercising a determined reform policy – to politically overturn the opinion poles when it comes to the vote.

Journalist: You say there is no succession issue, but camps are forming in New Democracy. There are those who are pro-Mitsotakis, pro-Karamanlis – and everyone has started talking about it.

Ms. Bakoyannis: I repeat, there is no such issue. But allow me to make an observation: These analyses are very superficial and reflect an outmoded rationale; they don’t concern citizens. There is no pro-so-and-so in modern political parties. Divisive labels like these are obsolete. Anyone who tries to revive them does so because it gives them a role and serves their selfish ends. But their timing is way off.