PM Samaras: Greece will become a symbol that Europe can succeed

By the end of its Presidency, Greece will have switched from being Europe’s weakest link to a symbol of Europe's ability to overcome difficult times, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Wednesday, in a speech declaring the official start of Greece’s Presidency of the EU.

Starting with references to former Greek statesman Constantine Karamanlis and the signing of Greece's accession to the European Economic Community decades earlier, Samaras said: “Greece is healing its wounds. We, Greeks, are stubborn and we will get through this. Today, Greece is assuming the Presidency; this is not just a hand over. The crisis has been an ordeal for Greece, the county has paid dearly for its own faults and the structural deficiencies of the EU. Now, it has proven the 'Cassandras' wrong." While some predicted and some even wished for Greece's exit from the Eurozone, Samaras added, Greece and Europe had proven they can get through difficult times.

Greece has achieved the greatest fiscal consolidation ever attempted in a recession. We do not forget the reasons for European integration, and what has been achieved in five decades. The European Union is the most ambitious project ever attempted, a Union of common values, in which, every people, without losing their identity, can accomplish a lot.

Freedom, democracy, competitiveness, social justice are the four key issues that predominate in the modern world. Our response to the crisis is a better Europe. This means that every citizen will be more involved in the decisions that concern him, Samaras said.

“Now that we have got through the hardest part and have avoided the worst, it is time to beat the recession and unemployment, it is time to find a balance between growth and stability, it is time to develop maritime policies, it is time to deepen the banking union," he added.

“The Greek Presidency will highlight the things that unite us and set us on a growth path,” Samaras said and added: “More and better Europe, this is the better world we can build for our children. This is what the rest of the world asks of us. We are Europe. Europe is not just abstract statistics, it is a matrix for freedom and growth.”

Barroso: Greece withstood the crisis thanks to European solidarity 

With the Greek phrase ‘efcharisto’ (thank you), the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso marked the opening ceremony of Greece’s EU Presidency on Wednesday, pointing out that Greece has withstood the hardest period of the crisis thanks to European support. bARROSO

Greece is taking over the rotating Presidency at a particularly challenging moment, Barroso said, reiterating that the European Commission has always stood by the side of the Greek government and people. “I always said that the success of Greece is the success of the EU,” he said.

According to Barroso, the union faced its most serious crisis during the past five years. “And we fought back together. Greece has not defaulted and has not left the euro. Greece is now taking the helm of the Council. The euro has been saved and strengthened,” he said.

There are still immense challenges, Barroso said, but important progress has been achieved.

“Greece is turning around the economy, it will emerge from recession this year, is expected to reach a primary budget surplus and is reducing its current account deficit,” he said.

The Commission’s visit to Athens demonstrates an ambition to join forces with Greek authorities, Barroso said, wrapping up his speech with a pledge in Greek ‘Imaste mazi sas’ (We are at your side).

Europe will be at Greece's side until its recovery, Rompuy says

Economic and social recovery was a difficult path demanding sacrifices and the Greek people deserve respect for their courage and resilience, European Council President Herman van Rompuy said on Thursday, addressing an event for the start of Greece's EU presidency held at the Athens Concert Hall.

"Greece carried out reforms and the EU showed solidarity. We will be at your side until recovery," he stressed, noting that no country could deal with the crisis alone.

Today we can leave the crisis behind us, the European Council president added, saying that 2014 must be a better year, in which the EU would achieve results, especially in fighting unemployment.

"Jobs, growth and security are the goals of Greece and Europe. A stronger EU is the best way to deal with the challenges... Europe remains our common goal," he said, noting that the time had come to show hope in the future.

"The rotating presidency represents the idea of common goals, is proof that the Union is everyone's business. Greece has long experience of these responsibilities, this is its fifth time, which comes at an especially difficult moment," he said.

Venizelos’ address at the opening ceremony of the Greek EU Presidency

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union at the Athens Concert Hall on Wednesday evening, Government Vice-President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos referred to Athens' political priorities, saying that “Greece has a full sense of the role and limits of the rotating presidency of the Council.”

He stressed that Athens will work closely with the permanent presidencies of the European Council, the Foreign Affairs Council and the Eurogroup.

“But the Hellenic Presidency is obliged to point out the fact that it is a Presidency of the European South, a Mediterranean Presidency that will be exercised by a medium-population member-state of the Union,” he added.

Specifically, Venizelos said:

“The Hellenic presidency is European: dedicated to the major European priorities. But on a national level, these six months also coincide with our top priority which is our turnaround to a definitive exit from the crisis and the Memorandum and a return to the 'normalcy' of a member state of the Union and the Eurozone: fiscally stable, financially secure, developmentally competitive, democratically strong and nationally proud.

“In this framework, the Hellenic Presidency’s main political priorities are priorities of the citizens and the peoples of the Union:

- Growth, jobs and the safeguarding of the social dimension of Europe, with the combating of youth unemployment as the number one issue.

- Integration of EU and Eurozone economic governance institutions, mainly through a banking union that does away with internal inequalities and guarantees deposits and equal potential for access by businesses to sources of financing.

- Protection of European borders and management of immigration flows, which is a top humanitarian priority, on the one hand, as well as a critical security issue for all of Europe, and not just for the countries on the Union’s external borders, coastal countries and especially Mediterranean countries.

“It is reasonable that our Presidency should have a fourth, horizontal priority: that of integrated maritime policy, which concerns blue growth, fisheries, energy, the environment, tourism and capitalisation on maritime zones in accordance with the International Law of the Sea.

“The Hellenic Presidency’s logo refers to the sea, shipping, as well as to the ongoing historical challenge of European integration, which is our common quest, and which we want to be our common attainment.”