E. VENIZELOS: This is perhaps the first time in its history that NATO is confronting so many crises, simultaneously, in its Southern and Eastern neighborhoods. It is of very great importance that Greece take a stance as an old member state of NATO, not only to simply maintain its credibility internationally, but also to strengthen its position on the issues that interest it, the national issues, issues linked to Cyprus, Greek-Turkish relations, the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean. Because it is of very great importance that we maintain the preconditions of national power and of national security, particularly now, when we are in the midst of very tough negotiations on the completion of the adjustment programme and the transition to another phase.
JOURNALIST: [Question on the negotiations with the troika]
E. VENIZELOS: The negotiations with the troika and, essentially, with our European partners and the International Monetary Fund are extremely difficult, as I have said, because these negotiations do not concern only the completion of the technical procedures of the Programme that is expiring, but also the shaping of the political framework of the new page. This is of very great importance for the national economy, for every family, for every business, for every employee, for every unemployed person. The great difficulty is the political situation in Greece. We do not have a domestic front that helps the government in the negotiations. I heard the opposition, at its highest level, admit that the difficulty arising does not concern the government, but concerns the country and the fact that the opposition is strong in the polls. But what does this mean? This means that, in the end, things are being made difficult for the country, for the citizens. Let’s rethink this. Let’s look at it from the right perspective.
December 2, 2014