Journalist: A good morning to Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Dollis, so we can look at some basic questions about Libya. Good morning, Mr. Minister.
Mr. Dollis: Good morning.
Journalist: First of all, have all the Greek citizens been evacuated from Libyan territory, or are there still some there whom we will be bringing back in the coming days, however we can?
Mr. Dollis: Everyone we registered when the crisis broke has been brought back. They were repatriated in five operations, and they all got back alright.
Journalist: The help we gave to foreign nationals was also successful. The praise from the Chinese government and the Chinese Prime Minister to the Greek Prime Minister makes it clear that we successfully carried out a mission for foreign nationals.
Mr. Dollis: Not just that. Right now Greece is playing internationally, and particularly in China, because we are the country that helped get 13,000 Chinese out of Libya. We are playing in other countries because we helped in our first operation to bring back other European citizens. We collaborated very successfully with China and Germany in Benghazi, where three ANEK Lines ships brought back the first Greeks. And in Benghazi at that time, things were very difficult and dangerous. We have also collaborated on every level that a major country can collaborate on, and Greece showed that it can be a major country in a time of crisis.
Journalist: Mr. Dollis, from what you see of things in Libya right now, and from the information you have at the Foreign Ministry, will things calm down? I mean, will Qaddafi say, “Alright, I withdraw,” or that this tension and civil strife is over? Or is this still just the beginning?
Mr. Dollis: It is very difficult to say what Qaddafi will do in the coming days. One thing is certain: right now we have two regimes in Libya. Another thing that is certain is that there is violence, and the third thing is that the international community has said that it will not tolerate this violence for very long. So I hope that the thinking in the coming days will center on coexistence, so that things can normalize and all this killing we see every day can stop. That is what I’m hoping to see.
Journalist: Take care, Mr. Dollis. Thank you very much. Have a good day.
Mr. Dollis: You too. Goodbye.
Journalist: Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Dollis.
February 28, 2011