JOURNALIST: Athens is doing its best to achieve a primary budget surplus in 2013 in order to win a new debt write-down, but is such a scenario plausible?
D. KOURKOULAS: Yes, but it's too soon to start talking about the details of any restructuring. This is a question for later, perhaps at the end of the year. I think that, first, Greece must continue to do its work and get results.
JOURNALIST: What do you think of the austerity versus growth question that Europe is divided over?
D. KOURKOULAS: It is a big issue. Is the fact that our troika partners underestimated the negative impact on growth of the Greek programmes due to the fact that Greece was late in applying structural reforms or because the specific nature of the Greek economy hadn't been taken into account?
There is no clear answer. It is true that the Greek economy was for a long time very inward-looking, based on local consumption with very low levels of exports. This was part of the reason why austerity had such a high negative impact on growth. But the important thing now is the future. Everyone agrees that there's no question of any more cuts in pensions and pay or any more tax rises. That is the government's view and, if I've understood it correctly, the troika accepts that too. The solution is to increase exports, tourism, privatisation and investment. And the government is determined to continue to make progress with structural measures, which will lead to positive results in the long-term.
JOURNALIST: After six years of recession, Athens hopes to return to growth in 2014. What are the keys to economic recovery?
D. KOURKOULAS: One very important aspect, perhaps the most important, is making lending available for the real economy through the bank system. We hope that the current recapitalisation of the banks will lead to a change in the lack of financing, a lack that has been so damaging to the real economy.
Another aspect is an end to talk about Greece having to leave the euro, talk that went on for far too long and nipped any plans of foreign or Greek investment in the bud. Nobody invests in an economy if they don't know which currency will be in use there in a few months or few years' time.
Such talk coming to an end will help improve the country's prospects.
JOURNALIST: What has helped Greece put an end to this talk?
D. KOURKOULAS: Firstly, the determination of the Greek people, and also the attitude of the country's partners, Germany for example, which said that there was no question of Greece leaving the euro.
Greece's partners took the measures needed to make the Greek debt sustainable. From time to time, some MEPs racked up the cacophony by advising Greece to leave the euro, like the president of the Czech Republic recently. We trust our economists and don't need advice from the Czechs.
JOURNALIST: Will the BNG/Eurobank merger be too big as a proportion of GDP?
D. KOURKOULAS: The important thing for us is to avoid surprises. People living in Greece have brought back into the country a large amount of the cash that they took out during the period of uncertainty. Some €19 billion, I think. We must not say or do anything that might reverse this trend. It is crucial to reassure Greeks and Europeans, too, that their economies are in good hands.
JOURNALIST: What do you think the Greek government should do with the report it has commissioned on German reparations to Greece due from the past occupation by the Nazis?
D. KOURKOULAS: The government has decided to ask the country's legal department to study the issue and publish a report. We cannot speak about it until that is done. This matter is on the back-burner, but we are determined to preserve excellent relations with all our partners, including Germany.
JOURNALIST: Jean-Claude Juncker says that the private sector involvement in the Greek debt write-down did not have solely positive results. What do you think?
D. KOURKOULAS: The PSI back then was necessary. Of course, there has also been a negative impact, but that was due to decisions taken by private banks to invest (or not invest) in high-risk areas. That wasn't due to a political decision taken by the Greek government or any other government. The responsibility lies with the management of certain banks.
JOURNALIST: Do you fear that the Cyprus crisis will spread to Greece?
D. KOURKOULAS: The Cypriot episode has not been positive for the Greek economy. The manner and the speed with which Greece and the Greek banking system has reacted to avoid any spread – by incorporating branches of Cypriot banks in Greece into the Greek banking system - was exemplary and has kept costs right down. What is happening in Cyprus will not impact on Greek growth in the short term because our economies are not very closely connected, but I think that we have demonstrated that we are capable of getting over this unexpected crisis.
JOURNALIST: Several Cypriot MEPs say that the eurozone solidarity demonstrated for Greece hasn't been given to Cyprus. Have the two countries been treated differently?
D. KOURKOULAS: The situation is different in each country. One could talk for a long time about the way the Cypriot crisis has been managed, firstly by Cyprus itself and then by the EU. The question of timing is very important. Any delays mean that tougher measures have to be implemented. We have always defended Cypriot interests and will continue to do so, in respect of the independence of Cyprus.
JOURNALIST: How is your relationship with the neighbours of the EU who are candidates or potential candidates to join the EU?
D. KOURKOULAS: During its Presidency in 2003, Greece opened the doors with the historical decisions of Thessaloniki, which gave the Western Balkan countries an accession perspective. If you look on a map, there is a gap which is not part of the EU - this is the traditional route linking Greece to the rest of Europe. It is clearly in our interests, we have always supported their accession perspective, we will continue to do so with all of the countries, as long as they respect the basic rules, including the rules of good neighbourhood.
JOURNALIST: Which countries do you have a complicated relationship with?
D. KOURKOULAS: We get the impression that, in recent years, FYROM has not been behaving in a way in which we feel a future partner should be behaving. We cannot agree to start negotiations with a government which behaves in this way.
JOURNALIST: What stage have the negotiations over the name “Macedonia” reached? The European Commission has given its favourable opinion to the opening of negotiations with FYROM several times. Greece, amongst others, is blocking this. Are you prepared to give a favourable opinion in June?
D. KOURKOULAS: The negotiations over the name are taking place under the aegis of the United Nations. We hope that a solution which is acceptable to both sides can be found as quickly as possible, which will obviously open up the prospects of good relations with our neighbours.
JOURNALIST: Is it not possible to look into opening the negotiations whilst stating that, until the question of the name has been resolved, FYROM will not be a member?
D. KOURKOULAS: In order to carry out productive negotiations, there has to be a minimum level of understanding and cooperation, which do not currently exist. Otherwise, the result would be to bring the region's problems into the EU. We want to open talks, we want this country to take its place in the European family. But we believe that opening talks under the current circumstances would be completely counter-productive.
JOURNALIST: What is your opinion of the agreement reached between Serbia and Kosovo on 19 April?
D. KOURKOULAS: This is a great step within Europe towards the stabilisation of the Balkans. The EU can be proud of the positive contribution it made to this agreement, a contribution has not been in the spotlight. We welcome the fact that this agreement has made Serbia's journey to the EU and its relations with Kosovo that much easier.
JOURNALIST: Greece does not recognise the independence of Kosovo. Is it in favour of an association and stabilisation agreement with Pristina?
D. KOURKOULAS: Greece does not recognise Kosovo as a state, but we are in favour of Kosovo'’s European perspective, and we contribute positively to any measure which helps it towards this objective.
JOURNALIST: Do you support the opening of accession negotiations with Serbia in June?
D. KOURKOULAS: Yes, we feel that it is very important to send out a positive sign that, on its part, there has been this step forward in relations between Belgrade and Pristina.
JOURNALIST: And what about Turkey?
D. KOURKOULAS: We are very much in favour of the prospect of Turkey joining the EU, once it has fulfilled all of the conditions as a candidate country. We feel that it is in the interests of the EU and of Greece for Turkey to continue to have a genuine European perspective.
JOURNALIST: You were in Marseilles on 20 and 21 April to discuss the Mediterranean. How can the EU help the Mediterranean countries more?
D. KOURKOULAS: It is clear that the EU's future will be largely played out in the Mediterranean as well, in the coming years, on two levels. First of all, what will happen in the countries of the so-called Arab Spring will determine our relations with these countries for the next several years, even decades.
The other vital aspect, which will come from the EU, is whether we will be capable of overcoming the crisis which is hitting the countries of the South particularly hard. The countries on either shore of the Mediterranean will, in a certain way, determine whether or not the EU's future is a bright one. I believe the stakes are particularly high as we Europeans must bring to bear all the instruments at our disposal in order to help these countries to follow a path of positive democratic development. We mustn't be impatient, it is not easy to create a democratic society of discussions when you have no experience of this. We have to stop lecturing to them, stop laying blame - all of this is counter productive.
JOURNALIST: What else can the EU do to help the Syrian population? Are you in favour of arming the Coalition?
D. KOURKOULAS: Greece is very much in favour of supporting the actions of the opposition. The EU is playing - and can increasingly play - an important role in trying to make the opposition more coherent and therefore more effective. Any initiative which strengthens the opposition, its cohesion and its democratic environment, must be promoted. We have contacts, relations with the opposition. What we are trying to do for our Syrian friends is first of all to make the opposition more coherent and stress that it must make an effort to observe human rights and the laws of war during the whole conflict. But there will be no solution as long as Bashar al-Assad is in power. Our first priority remains a peaceful solution, not because we are pacifistic but because we believe that there is no obvious military solution. At the same time, the humanitarian aspects are a matter of urgency,
because the situation on the ground is dramatic.
JOURNALIST: What can the EU do to make sure that humanitarian aid gets to its destination?
D. KOURKOULAS: This is a very difficult issue, because we have to work with the NGOs which are tolerated by the regime wherever it continues to have effective control. This is a highly complicated situation, which does not make channelling humanitarian aid easier. There are also Syrians outside their borders, in Jordan and Lebanon, countries which do not have many resources to face a challenge of this scale. There is no magic bullet for the distribution of humanitarian aid. As long as the situation on the ground is as it is today, it is going to be difficult.
JOURNALIST: Do you know how many Syrian migrants have arrived in Greece since the start of the conflict?
D. KOURKOULAS: The number of Syrians has increased by 500% compared to 2011. The figures are not yet terribly high (Ed.: it is believed that there were 8,000 Syrians in the country illegally in 2012) but the trend is extremely worrying and we had very few illegal Syrians before the war started.
April 25, 2013