Minister of Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis’ interview with CNN and journalist Richard Quest (19.05.2025)

Minister of Foreign Affairs George Gerapetritis’ interview with CNN and journalist Richard Quest (19.05.2025)

JOURNALIST: Minister, you obviously welcome this deal, because of the sheer amount of tourism business between Greece and the UK. Anything that makes that easier – and also better for your exports – must be to your benefit. You must welcome this deal.

G. GERAPETRITIS: We are absolutely excited for the deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union. We were looking forward to it. We worked very hard in order to conclude this agreement. I think apart from anything else, apart from the trade, the people-to-people diplomacy, tourism, I think it is a major step in order to enhance the European strategic autonomy. Because we cannot envisage Europe without the United Kingdom. So, this is a major upscaling. And we are looking forward to working together.

JOURNALIST: Is there a sense of reality on both sides that this is the sort of deal that arguably could have been done if the participants on both sides had not been so stuck in their ways, arguably toxic at the time. And therefore, this was not possible 10 years ago. But the reality of Putin on one side, Trump on the other, means this has to be realistic.

G. GERAPETRITIS: To start with, I think we are very deliberative. Our mindset is completely on the deliberative side of things. We think there is nothing that we cannot achieve with proper dialogue. So, it is important that we sit around the table and discuss. Secondly, I think that we are living in very challenging times. And when challenging times occur, I think all nations, all states, all governments, are getting closer. They are getting together because they feel that the more they are sticking together, the stronger they are. And the more leverage they have and the bargaining chips they acquire are much higher. So, I think all these brought us together. I feel that this is going to be the start of a magnificent alliance.

JOURNALIST: I was in Athens just a couple of weeks ago. I mean, besides the fact it's just superb, splendid. Yes, I even looked at the Acropolis, but we'll deal with that another day. You suffered so much during the financial crisis, but the economy in your country does seem to be on a firmer footing, because you took those hard decisions all those years ago?

G. GERAPETRITIS: I think we had some pretty bad time. We had a very severe austerity program for almost a decade. We almost lost 25% of our GDP. It is important that we have recovered in the last six years. We have become the European champions in growth, in decreasing unemployment, in decreasing public debt, public deficit. At the moment, there is a huge upside for our economy. We can borrow in the same terms or even better terms to all other European states. I think there is a glorious future for us. Just to mention that we have a government, which is very stable, a government which is pro-investment. This is why we have the opportunity to welcome in Greece all the major American companies, including Amazon, Pfizer, Google, Cisco. They have all found a very fruitful environment.

JOURNALIST: I should be charging you for the commercial for Greece, if you are not careful, Minister. I will be sending you the bill for the commercial. You are in New York for the maritime conference. The one thing we've discovered in the last 12 to 18 months is the significance and the difficulties, whether it be the Panama Canal or indeed going round through the Suez Canal and the difficulties of maritime. Even supply chain issues coming from China. What is your hope for this conference?

G. GERAPETRITIS: First of all, I should say, Richard, that 80% of the whole world trade is mobilized through the seas. So, it is absolutely important to upscale maritime security. It's important to secure that freedom of navigation is respected wholeheartedly altogether. And then we have all these modern challenges that we need to address. We have the climate crisis, we have the cyber attacks. There are a lot of things now happening. So, we need, I think, to recalibrate the way we are seeing things when it comes to freedom of shipping. First of all, it is our intention to suggest a new framework in order to allow more freedom, to prevent all kinds of hybrid threats, including terrorism, piracy, human smuggling, which is a contemporary terror for human dignity. I think all those challenges need to be addressed. The mere fact that this is a global challenge leads us to the result that we need to have a global response.

JOURNALIST: I'm grateful to you, sir, for joining us tonight. Thank you. A successful conference ahead. Thank you.

G. GERAPETRITIS: Delighted, Richard.

May 20, 2025