The meeting between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President of the Republic Konstantinos Tasoulas focused on the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Athens.

During the meeting, issues concerning Greek-French relations were discussed, with emphasis on further strengthening the cooperation between the two countries at political and strategic level.

The presence of the French President in the Greek capital is considered of particular importance at a time of heightened geopolitical challenges in the wider region.

The Prime Minister said in their dialogue: “I think it was a visit with a special symbolism. We had the opportunity not only to reaffirm the firm alliance ties between our two countries, but also to place the framework of the Franco-Greek initiatives in a broader debate on the future of Europe. I want to recall that Greece and France, when they signed the 2021 mutual assistance and defence cooperation agreement, were essentially ahead of the curve. We were the first to put the issues of European defence autonomy on the table at the European Council and I am glad because this debate has gained an increased momentum.

This visit was not only about the multifaceted Greek-French cooperation in many areas beyond defence and foreign policy, but also about a common vision that we share with France for a more strategically autonomous Europe, more self-confident, a Europe that will actively defend the European way of life and strive to protect the interests of European citizens in a complex world where many of the constants of the past are now being called into question. This inevitably brings us to issues relating to the economy and support for the very ambitious European initiatives as expressed at European Council level.

We are in the midst of a major economic crisis. The Greek government has done its best to support Greek households and businesses, but we have always operated within the framework of fiscal rules and discipline. It is not imposed on us by Europe, but by the need we have to reduce this unsustainable debt that we have inherited from other generations. I am quoting by way of example, I showed and graphically illustrated yesterday the post I made. It is perhaps the economy’s greatest success that Greece in recent years has achieved the largest and fastest recorded debt reduction as a percentage of GDP of any economy in the history of modern economies.

This is a very big success. We are taking a very big burden from future generations. At the end of this year, we will no longer have the highest debt in Europe. This debt reduction policy gives great breathing space not only to future generations because they will not have to inherit a big burden, but it also allows us to be able to borrow on better terms and respond to emergencies in a more efficient way.

But we cannot deviate from this path, which is and should be a non-negotiable national priority. For the first time since the post-revolution, this is happening with such speed and to such a systematic degree.

Since you are a history buff, I cannot help but recall the phrase Andreas Papandreou once said: either we fight the debt or the debt will swallow us up. We have been swallowed up by debt for many decades and for the first time we are happy to be able to say that we are facing this perennial problem on different terms.

Since the national frameworks for these reasons are de facto limited, I think it is very important that the debate on Europe’s next budget be conducted in terms of, I would say, a broad horizon. If we have great ambitions that we have in defence, the climate crisis, social cohesion issues, artificial intelligence, Europe must have the financial tools to be able to finance these ambitions. It will be a difficult debate. I hope that it will culminate in December this year, when we have to agree on the budget. We need to be more ambitious. If further European resources are needed, we will have to think about how to use them. I think we will come to the negotiation with this common position and I can assure you that what has happened, which has shown that France is on our side and vice versa, has a European dimension which I think in these difficult circumstances is of particular importance.”

@ellada24gr Mitsotakis: Greece has achieved in the last 6 years the largest recorded debt reduction as a percentage of GDP of any economy in the history of modern economies #greeknews #newsfeed #ellada24 #tiktokgreece #foryoupage #greektiktok #tiktokgr #foryou #fyp #foryourpage #politics #politiki #politicsnews ♬ original sound – Ellada24