Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas participated today in the Greek-Russian Conference on Tourism, which was hosted at the Acropolis Museum by the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism.
D. KOURKOULAS: It is a great pleasure to be representing the Foreign Ministry at this important event. The coordinator mentioned earlier that the Tourism Minister has a direct line with the Prime Minister. I would add that there is also a direct line between the Foreign Ministry and the Tourism Ministry, and there are two reasons for this: There is the obvious reason that the tourism sector is of strategic importance to the Greek economy’s recovery, and there is also the fact that the Foreign Ministry sees relations with the Russian Federation as being of strategic importance, particularly now, when there is so much instability in our environs. Beyond our historical ties, to which Madam Minster referred, there are many important reasons why our relations with Russia are of strategic importance.
So that is why we see tourism as a tool for economic recovery and, at the same time, a means for deepening the relations between the two countries and the two peoples, because the tourists who come here and the Greeks who visit Russia as tourists create ties between civil society, and they even create conditions for further development of business synergies.
And it is not just in our bilateral relations with Russia that we are implementing this conviction, this principle: we are also promoting, with some success, strategic cooperation between the European Union and Russia. Greece played a major role in the signing of the agreement on facilitation of visas between the EU and Russia, in 2007. We are continuing our efforts with the aim of full liberalization of visas, which can be achieved only within the framework of the Community Acquis, which obliges us to respect Community regulations. But we are exhausting all the margins for making it easier for our Russian friends to come to Greece.
As you will know, every EU member state that participates in Schengen is obliged to comply with regulations. Greece follows these regulations, but within this framework we are trying to make things as easy as possible. Specifically, all of our consular missions – in Russian and in other countries – are under instructions to issue visas in as short a time as possible: 48 hours. We know from statistical data that our consular authorities in Russia are among the fastest – as compared to other European consulates – in issuing visas. In tandem, we have developed a network of private providers, private companies that facilitate us and Russian tourists so that visas can be issued quickly. At this time, we have these kinds of external providers in 16 cities in Russia, which means that prospective tourists don’t need to go to a consulate that may be thousands of kilometres away. The whole process can be carried out through the external providers with whom our consulate collaborates.
We have issued instructions, which we reissue every year, to facilitate good-faith travelers – business persons, persons of recognized social and economic standing, academics, researchers – so that they can be issued multiple-entry visas valid for anywhere from six months to five years. Instructions have also been issued and implemented for full utilization and implementation of the potential for exemption from the obligation of applicants to appear in person. Particularly in Russia, the Greek consular authorities are among the fastest in processing visa applications.
We make optimum use of the potential provided for in the European Visa Code for cooperation with trusted and reliable commercial mediators. For example, every year our Consulate General in Moscow certifies and collaborates with 141 travel agencies in its region of responsibility, which facilitates the issuing of visas to groups. The Petersburg and Novorossiysk Consulates General have such agreements with 47 and 14 travel agencies, respectively.
In an additional show of Greece’s particular interest in further facilitating the visa issuing process, our country is in talks with the Russian side to sign a joint declaration in which the Greek and Russian sides express their intention to strengthen their cooperation on movement issues, including issues of immediate Russian interest, like the obligation of authorities to issue long-term multiple-entry visas.
We are closely monitoring developments with regard to the list of common steps agreed to by the European Union and Russia, as these common steps will lead to the waiving of visa requirements as soon as the conditions are met. Here, I would like to repeat that we have already stated that during the Greek EU Presidency in the first half of 2014, we will put particular emphasis on promoting this important issue.
I think that the statistics for the provision of visas in 2012 show that within the truly narrow framework imposed by Community regulations, Greece and the Greek consular authorities and the Foreign Ministry have taken very important steps while anticipating the full liberalization of the visa regime.
Allow me, in closing, to reiterate and express my thanks for the wishes that have been expressed here for Greece’s speedy recovery and emergence from the crisis. I want to assure you that our country, with the decisions taken this past December, is on a steady course out of the crisis. The viability of the Greek debt as been ensured. The refinancing of banks and the loan that our country received from our partners guarantee the liquidity necessary for halting the recession and, in a second stage, for recovery. We are already seeing the first positive signs on this course towards recovery. We see that Greece, for the first time in many years, may this year – or, at the latest, next year – achieve a primary surplus in its budget. This is an important step. We are also seeing – despite the general global recession – growth in exports to Russia, which we are particularly pleased with.
So I think the Greek economy is on a recovery course that, though difficult, will be definitive. And since Ms. Kefalogianni mentioned the NSRF, I would like to inform you that in the negotiations that were completed just two days ago on the multiannual financial framework – the EU budget – for 2014-2020, the greater part of public investments will be funded through the NSRF, which is very important given the austerity in the national budget. In Attiki, in particular, which has been hit hard by the crisis and unemployment, beyond the funding Attiki is eligible for based on common regulations – regulations that are very complex, so I won’t explain them here – we managed to get additional, exceptional assistance in the amount of €1.35 billion for Attiki for the period 2014-2020.
So I think that – despite the fact that the coming months will be difficult – we can assure our Russian friends, who are genuinely interested in the recovery of the Greek economy, that we are on the right path.
Thank you very much.
February 10, 2013