Journalist: Let’s welcome Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas. Good morning, Mr. Minister.
Mr. Droutsas: Good morning, Mr. Hatzinikolaou.
Journalist: I want you to give us a snapshot of the talks with al-Obeidi, am I pronouncing that right? The new Foreign Minister of the Qaddafi government.
Mr. Droutsas: Who is the acting Foreign Minister.
Journalist: What did he want? Why did he come to Athens? You know what the question is: Is Qaddafi perhaps setting up an exit from the Libyan political stage and looking for some way to make that happen?
Mr. Droutsas: Let me stress and remind you that Greece and the Prime Minister have from the very outset and the first meeting – in Paris, if you remember – in his speech he stressed this point: that we have to continue the efforts to find a diplomatic solution in Libya. Mr. Hatzinikolaou, I think it is also clear and obvious that Greece, as part of the region, has great interest in seeing peace and stability in our region. That’s why we said that Greece will put its services at the disposal of the international community; if you will, our geographical position helps us in this, as do the traditional relations we have developed with the whole of the Arab world. As you know, we are in constant contact with our partners, our allies, and with representatives in Libya of the regime and the rebels, and from the phone conversation that the Prime Minister had on Friday with his Libyan counterpart, this thought arose of sending an envoy to Athens for talks, for them to present to us how they see the situation and to see if we can move ahead to a diplomatic solution.
Journalist: Is Qaddafi talking about withdrawing from the political stage in Libya, or not yet?
Mr. Droutsas: Look, I can’t say that that was the clear message, but the regime in Libya is certainly getting the international community’s messages, as well as those of the anti-government forces. And we can’t put our heads in the sand on this: This is an issue that needs to be discussed seriously. But – and I stress this, Mr. Hatzinikolaou – it was not something we discussed in our talks yesterday.
Journalist: I’m asking because there are a lot of people saying that Qaddafi would probably see Greece as a good country to withdraw to.
Mr. Droutsas: I think that is more …
Journalist: A scenario?
Mr. Droutsas: … in the sphere of fantasy. Let me be clear on this as well, Mr. Hatzinikolaou: There is no such issue.
Journalist: Thank you, Mr. Minister.
Mr. Droutsas: Thank you, too.
Journalist: Good day.
April 4, 2011