JOURNALIST: Earlier this month Greece took over the rotating presidency of the EU from Lithuania. While some question the ability of the debt-ridden country to preside over Europe, Greek officials want to use this opportunity to repair the reputation and restore their country’s credibility on the European scene. I am joined here in Paris by Greece’s Foreign Minister, Evangelos Venizelos. Welcome to the interview on FRANCE 24.
E. VENIZELOS: Thank you very much for your invitation
JOURNALIST: Greece, after huge sacrifices, is able to say that it’s leaving behind the crisis. I am not saying this, that’s what Greece’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras recently declared. Your government forecast the Greek economy will grow by 0.6% this year, but the OECD predicts another year of recession. So who is right?
E. VENIZELOS: This is a very good question. After 6 years of recession, now we are for the first time in the position to show our partners a primary surplus in our budget. This is a very positive indication, not only for fiscal adjustment, but also for the new situation of Greece’s real economy. The critical point it’s not only the fiscal situation, but also the volume of our economy and also the capacity of our society to organize the future after the crisis.
It is very important to break this endless discussion about our capacity, about our will, because now we have numbers to show. This primary surplus is the first point toward the verification of the viability of our public debt, and the verification of the viability, the sustainability, of the Greek public debt is the precondition for the organization of the next step toward the markets.
JOURNALIST: And what is the next step? Because you know the view of a number of economists. They say that, despite this small surplus, Greece won’t make it without the haircut. You disagree with this, but let me ask you how Greece manages to pay back its debt.
E. VENIZELOS: I was the Greek Minister of Finance during this unique operation of the so-called PSI, the private sector involvement. The biggest – historically speaking – haircut of public debt, but of the private part of this public debt. The public debt held by private entities.
The other face of this very big and historic operation is the radical restructuring of the Greek public debt. Our debt is not only a ratio with reference to our GDP, but also a very concrete relation between our ability to pay the cost for the annual servicing and the reaction of the market.
Because the Greek public debt is a Greek debt with a very friendly duration. We’re talking about a public debt for 30 years. We have excellent average of interest rates, we have a very important grace period, we have excellent maturities, and, first of all, we now have a very low annual servicing cost of our debt. In terms of net present value, the Greek public debt is more sustainable than other debts in other countries of our European Union. This is the approach and the proposal – not of the Greek government, but of Mr. Klaus Regling, the leader, the managing director of the European stability mechanism, who knows very well the situation and also the technical capability of our country to verify and also guaranty the viability of our debt.
JOURNALIST: Nevertheless you recently declared that it poses a problem of democracy and legitimacy to have the IMF at the heart of the Eurozone, as part of the troika. Did you mean that?
E. VENIZELOS: This is a problem not only for Greece
JOURNALIST: Do you mean that the plan, the bailout package, has been undemocratic?
E. VENIZELOS: No, not at all. We fully respect our institutional partners. The European Union, the other member states of the Eurozone. But the participation of the IMF as an institutional factor in the different European procedures is something new. It’s an indication against the capability of the European Commission to act. And also the troika – not as institutional entity, but as the political representative of the European governments – must present some reports not only before the governments, but also before the parliament.
Because according to the rules of our European parliamentarian tradition the parliament is always the ultimate institution, the institution with the necessary democratic legitimacy. But we respect our joint efforts with the principals of the troika. Because we are talking now, four years after the beginning of our historical effort to overcome the crisis. Now we are in a totally different situation.
JOURNALIST: You recently declared to a German paper that Germany should show more restraint, and I am quoting, “respect Europe’s diversity and the rights to other solutions. Is it okay that some Greek people feel they have been bullied by Germany?
E. VENIZELOS: We have excellent bilateral relationships with the German government, with the German political system. We understand very well how important is the German leading role for the future of Europe and also for European integration and the existence of our Union.
But we also take into consideration the social situation, the democratic problem. It is not possible for the new European generation to accept that Europe as a concept is only austerity policies and unemployment. It’s absolutely important to talk between political partners – not politically, always on a very concrete basis of the numbers, but with the necessary capability to take into consideration the other dimensions of the situation, the social dimension, the democratic dimension, and also the situation of the real economy. Because the national economy, the European economy, is not only the financial sector. We must take into consideration the real economy, the enterprises, the real ordinary people.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned the social cost of the crisis. It is no secret that SYRIZA, a far-left party, and Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi party, are expected to do very well in the upcoming European elections. How worried are you as the leader of PASOK, a socialist party?
E. VENIZELOS: The European Elections, everywhere, not only in Greece, are a secondary electoral procedure. We organize, simultaneously, not only the European Elections, but also local and regional elections. But, without doubt, it’s absolutely important to convince Greek public opinion, our electoral body, that this unique national project has a new chapter for the future. This is something very vital and important for us.
JOURNALIST: And that is probably where the Greek Presidency of the EU can help your government. We know that growth and unemployment stand very high on your priorities list. What do you want to do about this?
E. VENIZELOS: Growth, job creation, the restoration and the re-establishment of the social dimension of the EU, are some obvious, pan-European priorities.
JOURNALIST: But can the Greek Presidency make a difference.
E. VENIZELOS: We must make a distinction between the European priorities of the Greek Presidency and the national priorities of our government and also of our nation. For us, the European priority is to present, first of all, a new European narrative for the future, a common European narrative, a more attractive one.
On the national level, the obvious priority is to organize national life after the crisis, and the first step towards this is the finalization and the official verification of the fiscal adjustment and the sustainability of the public debt, but the real problem is to re-organize the national hope for the future. This is the most important point for us.
JOURNALIST: You have earmarked 50 million euros for what is being called a Spartan European Presidency. Do you have the financial resources to make this happen?
E. VENIZELOS: Yes, of course. It is our obligation to organize the European Presidency. On the other hand, for a country in crisis, it is mandatory to organize the Presidency in a very practical and result-oriented manner.
January 17, 2014