Mr. Droutsas: Italy stood at Greece’s side from the very first moment, and in my meetings today, Italy’s trust in Greece was stressed; Italy’s belief in the efforts of the Greek people, and particularly in the Greek economy’s prospects and potential. Greece is continuing decisively with its reforms, and this is recognized by our partners.
Journalist: Did you talk about the crisis in Libya?
Mr. Droutsas: We find that our initial view is being confirmed ever more strongly: military measures alone will not bring the crisis to an end. There is an urgent need for serious, responsible, coordinated efforts to find a political solution, always under the auspices of the UN. We stressed this today. Greece is working in this direction and contributing with its thoughts, proposals and initiatives. There is always the humanitarian issue – it is now a humanitarian tragedy. I had the opportunity in today’s meeting to say that Greece is preparing to send a ship in the coming days carrying humanitarian aid and medical supplies.
Journalist: Did your talks focus on the economic crisis?
Mr. Droutsas: First of all, Mr. Frattini stressed once again Italy’s solidarity with Greece and the Greek people. I want to underscore that there is full recognition of the efforts that have been made recently by the government and, in particular, of the efforts and sacrifices of the Greek people. I want to stress that. They fully acknowledge this, and Mr. Frattini said it to me outright. In this context, I was in a position to present and reiterate data, such as the reduction of our deficit by more that five percentage points in one year, the social security reforms, the “Kallikratis” programme. In Greece, we know all of this, but it is important to remind our partners, as well. And all of this has been recognized. Of course, I am the first to stress that we have a long road ahead. We are in the middle of this effort and we need real determination to continue.
I briefed Mr. Frattini on the Greek cabinet’s decisions yesterday, when we announced our determination to implement the three-year midterm programme. We talked in particular detail about the privatization programme. The Italian side is very interested in our finding ways to collaborate; to have Italian enterprises invest in our country. Because what we both observed was that we are in the same region. The Mediterranean, the developments in North Africa are important, but let’s not forget the Balkans, which is a region linking our two countries. Sometimes, economic and business interests in the same region may sound competitive, but there is a lot of potential for cooperation.
That is why we decided to have specialists from Greece visit Italy very soon to present to Italian enterprises the potential for investments in Greece, and this will be done in a very serious, responsible and systematic manner.
This was a proposal from Mr. Frattini himself – that we organize it here in Italy, and in more than one place: southern Italy, Milan – a kind of meeting/event for Italian entrepreneurs, for Italian enterprises, so that we can present the potential for investments in Greece.
I think this is tangible proof, if you will, of Italy’s confidence in Greece, in the Greek economy, and even more in the prospects and potential of the Greek economy. I think this is a very important result and one of the main messages from my meeting with Mr. Frattini.
Journalist: Illegal migration?
Mr. Droutsas: We talked in depth about the developments in North Africa, and in Libya in particular. I would like to stress that from the very outset there has been close cooperation between Italy and Greece with regard to these developments. You remember that I was in Rome recently for the Contact Group meeting.
What links our two countries in terms of the developments in the region is the issue of illegal migration, with Italy right now facing more immediate dangers, if you will, than Greece. But the illegal migration issue is more general, and we are looking at it in depth for another reason: at the June European Council there will be a discussion of the illegal migration issue and the EU policy on this matter.
It is vital that we use this discussion on the level of heads of state and government so that the sensitivities shared by Greece and Italy on this issue can be passed on to our partners and we can have real solidarity amongst the member states of the EU – not just in word, but in deed. And all of this will be set down clearly in the texts of the European Council.
As you know, there are already initial plans and proposals from the European Council on this issue. We decided to jointly monitor these developments in the EU and to jointly convey our views in order to safeguard our interests.
Illegal migration is certainly a pressing issue on which Greece and Italy share an approach.
Mr. Frattini has a lot of experience with this issue, because he was Justice and Home Affairs and Human Rights Commissioner at one time and had to confront various emergency situations. So, he has very good first-hand knowledge of the subject.
That is why I think Italy, and Mr. Frattini in particular, is an invaluable collocutor and, if you will, even an ally in dealing with this issue.
Journalist: Was the issue of the readmission agreement with Turkey raised?
Mr. Droutsas: We didn’t go into detail on this issue. We discussed EU-Turkish relations, of course; the prospects for Turkey’s accession.
Italy and Greece have a common approach: we want to see Turkey become an EU member state.
I stressed in our talks what is obvious to us: That for Turkey to be able to joint the EU, it needs to meet all the obligations it has undertaken to the EU and to all the member states, and in this discussion we of course touched upon the readmission agreement issue.
And we have the same stance on this issue. We have a lot of interest in seeing this readmission agreement implemented. Our two countries are also in agreement on the issuing of visas for Turkish nationals, and Greece has an immediate interest in seeing a liberalization of the visa regime for Turkish tourists who want to travel to Europe.
As Greece, we have a special interest due to tourism. I don’t need to repeat the numbers of Turkish tourists who visit Greece, the Greek islands.
Last year alone, Greece took the initiative of waiving visas for green passports, and we saw a spectacular increase in Turkish citizens visiting Greece.
We are of the view that the illegal migration issue – the protection of our country and, in the final analysis, Europe from illegal migration – can be handled effectively in combination with relaxing the visa regime for Turkish citizens.
Looking at the data we have in Greece on illegal migrants, we see that while they all come through Turkey, they are not Turkish citizens.
We all know the illegal migrants’ countries of origin. So, on this issue as well – the granting of visas for Turkish citizens – Greece and Italy have a common line.
Journalist: [question off microphone concerning the Balkans and the ITGI]
Mr. Droutsas: I explained and described to Mr. Frattini the goal and programming of the Greek EU Presidency in the first semester of 2014. And the Greek Presidency will be followed by Italy’s.
Our goal is to have a Summit Meeting with the countries of the Western Balkans, like the one we had in Thessaloniki in 2003. We are already calling it Thessaloniki II. The goal is for things to have matured by then, and we want to work in that direction.
And it is precisely here that Greece and Italy can take initiatives together so that during the Greek EU Presidency – if the situation has matured, as I said – the heads of state and government can decide on a specific roadmap for the accession of the countries of the Western Balkans.
And if we can, we also want to decide on a specific date for the completion of this process. And this is also a goal that Italy shares.
After all, we have common interests in the Balkans, and we said that we will look at specific and practical ways to cooperate in this area within the EU. Because we have both observed that the issue of the accession of the countries of the Western Balkans has once again fallen somewhat low on the EU agenda.
When we entered office in October 2009, we managed, as the new Greek government, to come out with a new initiative – Agenda 2014 – aimed at revitalizing, in political terms, the issue of the accession course of the Western Balkans on the EU agenda.
And I think we achieved that goal, as evidenced, for example, by the fact that at the end of the 2010 Spanish Presidency there was a special meeting of Home Affairs Ministers in Sarajevo on precisely this issue.
But, as Mr. Frattini and I ascertained, the issue of the Western Balkans has once again fallen among the EU’s priorities, due to the economic crisis in Europe, which has led to public opinion in many countries having a less than positive attitude to enlargement. And, of course, current developments in North Africa contribute to our ‘forgetting’ issues like the Western Balkans and their accession course.
That is why we said that in the EU we will try jointly to bring this issue back and keep it high on the agenda of EU priorities.
Another important issue we discussed, and on which there is close cooperation and common interests, is the issue of pipelines. Greece and Italy move together in their support of the ITGI.
We reiterated once more our two countries’ dedication to this plan and the pipeline in question. And it is an issue that the two Prime Ministers, Mr. Papandreou and Mr. Berlusconi, are in direct contact about.
Our goal is for the ITGI to be completed and go into operation as soon as possible. There is a possibility, in fact, of the pipeline going into operation as early as 2017.
May 24, 2011