JOURNALIST: In just a few days, you will have been Foreign Minister for a year. Can you give us an account of your time in office?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: Over the past year, Greek diplomacy has been systematically activated, with the goal of repairing the damage done to the country’s image by the economic crisis. At the same time, it worked methodically, contributing to, among other things, the creation of a climate conducive, on the international level, to strengthening the Greek economy’s activities abroad, attracting investments and enhancing our relations with key partners of the Eurozone.
This strategy is starting to show results. Our county’s credibility is increasing. Everyone is talking about ‘Grecovery’ rather than a ‘Grexit’. Greece is stabilizing and attracting foreign investors. And the conditions are taking shape for the economy’s recovery and the upgrading of the country to a commercial and energy hub.
Through a visionary, dynamic policy of initiatives, Greece is opening new channels of communication, renewing traditional friendships and building new ones, strengthening its position on the global landscape, fully safeguarding and promoting its interests.
JOURNALIST: You accompanied the Prime Minister on his visits to China and Azerbaijan. This week you visited Israel for the same reason, as well as Palestine. Were you satisfied with the first two visits, and what can we expect from the Prime Minister’s trip to Tel Aviv?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: The Prime Minister’s visits to China and Azerbaijan, as well as the visits I just carried out to Israel and Palestine, were a complete success. In the midst of a difficult economic state of affairs, Greek diplomacy is sending in every direction the message that Greece is regaining lost ground and its power. It is becoming ‘extroverted’ and is an attractive destination for investments.
In China, we laid the groundwork for expanding our economic cooperation, for attracting capital that will create new jobs, and for strategic cooperation with a country that is an economic superpower and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
In Azerbaijan we promoted the plan for the construction of the Trans Adriatic natural gas Pipeline (TAP), which, if chosen, will put Greece at the epicenter of the region’s energy map, strengthening Europe’s energy security and creating 2,000 direct jobs and a further 10,000 indirect jobs in the Greek market.
In Palestine we renewed our support for the Palestinian people’s just demand for a solution to the Middle East issue that will give security to Israel and provide for the creation of a Palestinian state. In Israel we laid the foundations for strengthening our strategic cooperation, and we agreed that this will extend to the sectors of defence, energy, tourism, agriculture, research and development, and to the economy in general. All of this will be discussed in detail at the Greek-Israeli Intergovernmental Council that we have decided to convene in the coming time.
JOURNALIST: You are at one of the most pivotal Ministries. The challenges are daily. Should we perhaps have a tougher strategy regarding Turkey and Skopje?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: On the international chessboard, and with regard to Turkey and Skopje in particular, our strategy is what it should be, and it leaves no room for misinterpretation. It is formulated based on the defence of the country’s interests and in accordance with the Principles of international law. I assure you that our every action and statement is the product of extensive and careful planning and study, and long hours of deliberation. We remain unswerving in our fundamental principles, and at the same time we encourage our neighbours to change their stance, giving them – within the framework of the EU – incentives to adapt to the principles of good neighbourly relations and to Europe’s Copenhagen criteria, because we believe that this serves the stability of the region and our country’s national interests.
At this point I would like to note the particular importance of the Greek-Turkish High Level Cooperation Council that was convened in Istanbul this past March, laying the foundations for the substantial upgrading of Greek-Turkish cooperation. The joint session of the Greek and Turkish cabinets is a development of historic significance, with a positive impact on both regional stability and Greek-Turkish relations, and it reflects the shared desire of the two peoples for peace and cooperation.
JOURNALIST: Are there any developments on the Skopje issue?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: Our will to resolve the issue is well known, as is our dedication to the principles and criteria that have to be met by a mutually acceptable solution. Greece has already taken steps that show it is participating in good faith in the negotiations under the auspices of the UN for the resolution of the problem. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen corresponding steps from the Skopje side, which needs to take the decision to leave its Balkan past definitively behind and work constructively for its European future.
JOURNALIST: With the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) going to the Russians, and with the alliances with Moscow, Beijing, Baku, Tel Aviv, do you think geostrategic issues are being resolved, or are more being created?
D. AVRAMOPOULOS: The privatization of DEPA is a process that is open to everyone. It is the result of a tender competition that is being carried out with strictly economic, rather than geopolitical, criteria. And it is not a foregone conclusion. Irrespective of that, I would like to point out that there is no western country that doesn’t collaborate with China, Russia, Azerbaijan and Israel. Consequently, the expansion of Greece’s cooperation with these emerging economic powers – country’s that are fully integrated into all the multilateral international economic institutions – creates no issues.
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