Mr. Droutsas: A very warm welcome to the Vice President of the Government and the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg – and very good friend – Jean Asselborn.
It is a particular pleasure for us to have him here, and I want to thank him on behalf of the Greek government and the Greek people for the solidarity and support Luxembourg showed from the very outset, when Greece started facing these challenges concerning the country’s economic situation.
We had, and we will have, the opportunity to discuss the many developments in Europe. As you know, at tomorrow’s European Council the main topic of discussion will be economic governance. I would like to stress here that Greece has every interest in – and wants to see – a permanent support mechanism for European economies. It is in Greece’s interest, and this is a goal that Greece has worked towards to date.
If such a support mechanism requires a change in the European treaties, this is an issue that will be studied very carefully and will be discussed, as we said, at tomorrow’s European Council.
We also had the opportunity to discuss the issue of illegal migration. This is an issue of intense interest to Greece and to all of Europe. We stress once again that it is a European issue, and for that reason Frontex’s participation in confronting this problem is very important to our country. And I want to thank Mr. Asselborn and Luxembourg for their participation to date in the activities of Frontex.
I would also like to note that for the first time following Greece request, Frontex’s rapid reaction unit is being used on the Greek-Turkish border along the Evros river. This shows that it really is a European problem, and it also shows the solidarity of the European Union in the combating of this problem.
We of course had the opportunity to discuss various international developments, and particularly developments in the Middle East. I had the opportunity to brief Mr. Asselborn on the results of my recent tour of the countries of the Middle East and, of course, developments on the Cyprus issue, which is an issue of international and European interest. And we also discussed developments in the Balkans and Greece’s “Agenda 2014” initiative for the support of Balkan countries’ European perspective.
Let me note here that we had the opportunity at the GAC in Luxembourg yesterday and the day before to collaborate closely on achieving progress with Serbia’s European course. The Council decided on a mandate for the Commission to examine Serbia’s application for accession to the European Union.
Once again, a warm welcome to Mr. Asselborn, my dear friend Jean, and I look forward to the continuation of our very good and close cooperation.
Mr. Asselborn: Dimitris, thank you for the very warm welcome. I must say that my visit here to Greece is very interesting, given that I had the opportunity to meet with the Prime Minister yesterday, as well as with the Foreign Minister of Greece.
I must tell you that Greece is a country that many in Europe admire greatly at this time. Don’t forget that even the German press – and this is of great interest – is talking about the Greek miracle. Why? Because it is extremely rare to see a country and a government manage within a year to reduce their deficit on the order of 5 to 7%.
So this is something very exceptional that we need to stress, and it shows that there is real solidarity from Luxembourg and Brussels for Greece’s government, which is being called upon to take really tough measures and do something extremely difficult.
But as the Prime Minister stated, the most difficult part is behind us. The most difficult things have already been done, and we in Luxembourg believe that in a few months the results will be visible in your country. So I want to repeat that the solidarity of all of Europe with the people and the government of Greece is a given, and I wish the Greek people every success.
Now, as concerns Frontex. We know that you receive some 300 applications for asylum annually. We mustn’t forget, of course, what condition these people are in when the come to Greece through Turkey, often from Iraq, Afghanistan or countries of Africa.
I repeat that the European Union must show its solidarity. As for Luxembourg, we show ours in practice, given that we decided to send a second police officer for the “Rabbit” programme.
What is more, we are prepared – should it be requested – to provide an airplane for local actions, and I would like to remind you that to date, in the space of a few months, Luxembourg has spent €500,000 to this end. But we spare no expense, because Greece’s problem is a European problem.
With regard to foreign policy, I would like to say that we share a common course, we – the government of Luxembourg – are often on the same wavelength with the government of Greece.
I want to say that we sincerely appreciated the Greek government’s moves with regard to relations with Turkey. We are aware that it is a long-range and difficult effort, but one that is beneficial not only to Greece, but to the whole of the European Union.
Now, regarding the Middle East. I think that we are both saddened at the fact that the negotiation efforts launched in early September have got bogged down. We see that nothing is moving ahead on this now, but I am also sure that Dimitris will keep me apprised of the continuing developments on this issue.
Regarding the Balkans, I would like to say that I remember a past visit of mine to Greece; a visit to then-Foreign Minister George Papandreou and his advisor at the time, Dimitris Droutsas, and the efforts we made jointly to convince Serbia to create a pro-European government, which we of course succeeded in doing, thanks to the assistance of President Tadic.
So I think that what happened in Brussels on Monday is in the right direction with regard to Serbia’s accession course, and I hope that this very positive development will encourage the other Balkan states, and this will be to the benefit of all of us in Europe.
Allow me to say a couple of words more, and these will be the last. We are here in Greece and we see a Greek government that really is making a huge effort to save the country, but without having the limitations that might be put in place in the case of a change to the European Treaties. By this I mean the potential penalties with regard to countries that do not honor the terms of the Stability Agreement and the possible loss of vote for these countries.
At the Council in Brussels over the next two days, of course, the discussions carried out will be extremely important regarding precisely the Stability Agreement and the support mechanism for European economies. But I think that we need to avoid the kinds of policies that would embarrass states or embarrass whole peoples. Preventive measures must be taken, of course, but in my view we should completely forget such kinds of systems that might embarrass a whole country.
So, for me, we cannot accept any effort to take away the vote of a country that does not comply with the Stability Agreement. I repeat that prevention is very important. We should not reach such situations, but in the case of deviation from the Stability Agreement, I think it is extremely dangerous and embarrassing for a people for their to be such practices.
October 27, 2010