Foreign Ministry spokesperson Konstantinos Koutras made the following comment in response to a journalist’s question on a statement made today by Gabriele Zimmer, the President of the GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament:
“Yesterday’s meeting of the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament with the Greek government was an institutional and, thus, public activity governed by the rules of transparency, which are always correctly upheld by the European Parliament, which represents the citizens of the Union.
Consequently, the unfortunate insinuation that the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister is the architect of leaks to the news media regarding what Ms. Zimmer said publicly within an institutional process is institutionally unacceptable and insulting.
What Ms. Zimmer said publicly was heard by many in attendance, and, likewise, the Deputy Prime Minister’s views are stated publicly and officially, and are not disseminated via leaks.”
November 27, 2013