Mr. Westerwelle: Ladies and gentlemen, my dear Stavros, first of all I would like to welcome you. It’s a great honor to have you here in Germany so soon after your taking up your new duties. It is a gesture that we truly appreciate, and we thank you very much. We will continue this press conference in our respective mother tongues, but feel free to ask questions in English.
Our discussion focused, of course, on the reforms in the eurozone. I am glad that Greece, with last week’s reform programme, took a decisive step. The passing of the recent package of measures by the Greek Parliament opened the way for disbursal of the next instalment of international economic assistance.
Now it is a matter of these reforms – passed boldly by Parliament, put forward courageously by the government in Athens – being implemented with courage. And on this we also need to have efforts on how we can coordinate. This was another issue we discussed.
I want to state once again expressly that Germany acknowledges Greece’s great efforts. We acknowledge the daily efforts of the Greek population toward ensuring the success of the reforms. Greece and Germany are not just two members of the European Union. We are two countries that maintain friendly relations, and as such we don’t want to contribute to a deterioration in the public debates and we want everyone to see what we gain from one another.
It is a friendship of the highest admiration that links us, and as such we are linked by solidarity and the recognition of the responsibilities of each side. We know that Greece can rely on the solidarity of its European partners, but at the same time we know that we can rely on the strength of Greece’s responsibility. This is a prerequisite for the Greek economy’s returning to stability and growth, which is in the interest of Europe and Germany.
At this point, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to underscore once again – and we talked about this with Mr. Lambrinidis – that the present discussions about the ratings of the credit rating agencies points to the need for institutional reforms. I think it is necessary to create an independent European credit rating agency. There are a lot of conflicting interests. There are a lot of developments that take little note of the real economic prospects in Europe.
That is why I want to repeat that as a federal government, we are in favor of the creation of a European credit rating agency. We are convinced that what we are discussing in the coalition government, as well, has to be put into action. It’s not something that can be done right now, but it needs to be an objective towards which we all work hard together.
Naturally, we talked in detail about the situation in North Africa, in Libya. We talked about the issue of European accession, particularly as regards Turkey. We exchanged views on the situation in Cyprus. So we had an international as well as European agenda in our talks.
Mr. Lambrinidis: It is a great pleasure and honor for me to be here in Germany with Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. It is significant, and it underscores how important we consider our bilateral relations to be, that my first visit as Foreign Minister – after my visit to Cyprus – is to Germany.
I have dedicated the greater part of my political life and career to the European idea, and from my experience in the European Parliament I can say with certainty that Germany and the Germans are the heart, the strongest muscle, if you will, of the European endeavor, giving it oxygen. The solidarity and responsibility Germany exhibits, as well as the solidarity and responsibility Greece is being called upon to exhibit, are, I think, the basic principles that will bring us, as Europeans, out of this crisis unified and stronger.
Guido and I talked a lot about the efforts to confront this crisis. Greece has shown its determination over the past year and a half. It took the measures it needed to take and will take even tougher measures now. Measures that have cost the Greek people a great deal. Measures that have paid off thanks to the sacrifices of the Greek people. And I am deeply grateful to Guido Westerwelle for acknowledging this so intensely and humanly, if you will, in our discussions. Naturally, I thanked him in particular for Germany’s contribution to this effort that is so difficult for Greece and Europe.
I would like to stress here something that often goes unmentioned: The Greece of today is conscientious and credible. We are implementing the measures we said we would take. Last year, the changes that took place in just twelve months in Greece were changes that have never been accomplished in so short a time in any other European country in the history of the European Union. Mistakes were made, of course, but we are correcting these with fresh resolve and fresh support from our partners, and for this I once again publicly express our gratitude for the solidarity and support.
Guido mentioned the midterm programme that we drew up and committed ourselves to implementing with determination from 2012 to 2015. I want to assure you that not a single euro invested by Germany and the German people in supporting Greece has been or will be wasted. Anyone investing in Greece’s collapse or the collapse of Europe has been proven wrong so far and will continue to be proven wrong, because we are united and are moving forward together, hand in hand.
I also briefed Guido on the Prime Minster’s letter to the President of the European Commission and the huge importance to our country – at precisely the time when it is putting through necessary, very difficult reforms – of achieving growth soon. We discussed a number of ways we could work together in the near, not the distant, future.
Germany is an invaluable global player. It isn’t just European or Greek-German issues that concern us. We talked about the “Arab spring”, we talked about Libya, we talked about the Middle East and a number of issues we will be dealing with separately or together, as Europeans, in the coming time.
We talked in depth about Turkey’s European course and the great importance of Turkey’s remaining dedicated and Europe’s remaining dedicated to Turkey’s accession to the European Union, provided, of course, that Turkey meets all its obligation. We also talked about the effort we need to make in supporting President Christofias’s talks with Mr. Eroglu so that we can come to a just and viable solution on the Cyprus issue.
July 6, 2011