JOURNALIST: Giorgos Papakonstantinou at the Special Court?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: Everything will come to light. The government has nothing to fear. Everything needs to come to light, in compliance with all the institutional procedures provided for on the level of the Judiciary and Parliament. Responsibility must be assigned, wherever it exists, to remedy the economic damage to the public sector, and, above all, to dispel the suspicions of a large portion of public opinion regarding complicity, cover-ups and a “code of silence” that keep the country’s leadership out of the line of fire.
JOURNALIST: Doesn’t Evangelos Venizelos bear political responsibility for his handling of the list?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: The President of Pasok supported the proposal for a preliminary committee.
JOURNALIST: Should former prime minister G. Papandreou be called to testify before the Parliamentary preliminary committee?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: The committee will decide who to call.
JOURNALIST: Are there other lists that weren’t investigated …
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: I repeat, everything needs to come to light. The cornerstone of rebuilt trust between politicians and citizens is the need for investigation of and punishment for the major scandals.
JOURNALIST: What are the national priorities for 2013, Mr. Minister?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: In tandem with the stabilization and recovery of the economy, Greece needs to regain its position as a European factor for stability in Southeast Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Greece will be at the hard core of Europe, the Eurozone, and any supra-national cooperation initiatives. I think all of our neighbours have got this message. Return to fiscal health, bolstering of the economy’s competitiveness, and proactive foreign policy on all bilateral and regional fronts are not mutually exclusive – they go hand in hand and are complement one another.
JOURNALIST: Is the first quarter of 2013 a crash test for the coalition government?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: The challenge of credibility in honouring the commitments we have undertaken is not just an accounting challenge aimed at obtaining the rest of the instalment. It is a challenge involving European solvency and credibility, as well as domestic resolve. It is the only way we can pursue the improvement of our position in European interrelations and be substantially and actively present in the overall negotiation on the further course of integration. In that sense, it is in fact a crash test on many fronts: domestically, in Europe, internationally.
JOURNALIST: Would you vote for more cuts if the targets are not met and new measures need to be taken?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: There’s no plan for anything like that. What’s more, further cuts without jumpstarting growth would lead to a vicious cycle of recession, mass unemployment, and social and political instability. I think the conditions have ripened in the Eurozone for a more multifaceted policy.
JOURNALIST: Is there a need for cabinet reshuffles?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: A reshuffle has a point when it serves a revision of priorities and new planning in critical sectors of the government’s task. In any case, it is the Prime Minister’s institutional prerogative.
JOURNALIST: Should New Democracy take back its MPs who are leaving the Independent Greeks party?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: All indications are that the rift is deep, and it is a mistake to look at political challenges, procedures, transgression, agreements and disagreements in individual terms. Let’s first see things mature, shift, be revised, and everything else will come.
JOURNALIST: Is there alarm on the European level – under Samaras or New Democracy – regarding enlargement?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: We can already see the dividing line between the European perspective of reforms and rifts, on the one hand, and inertia on the other. But let’s not jump ahead of a dynamic that is already in full swing.
JOURNALIST: Are you worried about losing New Democracy voters to Golden Dawn? How should Nikos Mihaloliakos’s party be confronted?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: Nothing worries us as long as we do our job well and get results. Otherwise, the disappointment of a portion of the electorate will always lead to extreme choices. Regarding how we should confront it, the response is zero tolerance for anybody acting beyond the limits of constitutional law or the penal code, wherever they come from.
JOURNALIST: The exclusive economic zone was a major issue for Antonis Samaras in the election campaign. Why has it “frozen”? Because of Turkey’s threats?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: No one can threaten us regarding something that is the sovereign right of every country. Greece has the capability and resolve to defend its rights and interests, which are safeguarded by international law, to the benefit of the Greek people. The government is proceeding methodically and effectively with the implementation of its commitments and strategic planning – responsibly and with appropriate preparation. And you can be sure that the government is passing up no opportunities, as evidenced by the progress with seismic research in the Ionian and south of Crete.
JOURNALIST: UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz will be visiting Athens and Skopje this coming week. What is the Greek government’s “red” line?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: Athens wants a solution that will satisfy longstanding national stances, respect the history and culture of each party, and enhance regional stability and security. In the 11 December 2012 conclusions of the Council of Ministers, our partners sent a different message to Skopje for the first time.
And that message is that the opening of accession negotiations presupposes the resolution of any pending issues bearing on good neighbourly relations, including – in the instance of Skopje – the resolution of the name issue. Mr. Nimetz’s visit, in and of itself, is a development that we wanted, to the extent that it can create the conditions for progress on the name issue. It is the result of our initiative for the signing of a memorandum between the two countries establishing the framework for the solution.
JOURNALIST: You had announced jointly with Ahmet Davutoglu that the High Level Cooperation Council would convene in January. It appears that it has been pushed back to at least March. Why was the Prime Minister’s visit to Turkey postponed? Did Erdogan’s statements play a role, like the latest one, in which he referred to Greece as “a country that sells its islands”?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: The convening of the High Level Cooperation Council and the Prime Minister’s visit to Turkey will both take place. I took a clear stance on those statements, and Turkey got the message.
We want the stability and economic prosperity of all our neighbours, as a prerequisite for confidence and realism in their international conduct. Our bilateral relations with all our neighbours are contingent on the principle of mutual respect. It is important for neighbours to understand each other’s sensitivities and to show this understanding.
January 6, 2013