Prime Minister Antonis Samaras became the first Greek leader since the country was bailed out in May 2010 to visit the White House. Mr Samaras held talks with US President Barack Obama on a range of issues, with the focus on Greece’s economic difficulties.
The American President praised the efforts being made by Greece and stressed that “Prime Minister Samaras is committed to continuing the structural reforms but we also agreed to that in dealing with the challenges that Greece faces we cannot simply look to austerity as a strategy. It’s important that we have a plan for fiscal consolidation to manage the debt but it’s also important that growth and jobs are focused”.
Mr Obama’s comments to the media in the Oval Office came only hours after the release of the latest unemployment figures in Greece for in May indicating record highs.
“We are confident that Greece can succeed, the stakes are high not only for Greece but for Europe and the world economy,” stated the American President.
Addressing the media together with the Greek president, Mr Obama highlighted the strong bonds that exist between Greece and the United States and praised the contributions of the Greek American community stating:
“The Greek American Community here are incredible business people and political leaders and community leaders and great friends of mine and that bond that extends beyond governments and goes to our peoples I think is what makes Greek American relationship so special”.
On the issue of Cyprus, Mr Obama said:
“We are both encouraged by the messages that have being coming out by the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities and we are going to be working very closely together to see if we can make progress on these promises”.
He went on to say how close is the military and intelligence cooperation between Greece and the US and stressed that “Greece can play an important stabilising and partnership role” in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean region.
“We are very proud of the friendship and the partnership that we have with the Greek people we want to be as helpful as we can during this period of challenge”.
The Greek Prime Minister told Mr Obama that jobs and growth is his number one priority, considering the levels of unemployment in Greece, especially youth unemployment.
“Our success story will be a European success story”, he said.
Talking about issues of foreign policy Mr Samaras described Greece’s region as having many problems, including the problem of illegal immigration. He went on to say that there are a lot of synergies that can take place between the two countries, taking into consideration the upholding of international law. One of this synergies can be in Cyprus stated Mr Samaras, describing the latest proposal for the solution of the Cypriot issue by the Cypriot President Mr Anastasiadis as opening a window of opportunity. He also went on to mention the huge energy potential of Greece and Cyprus as a result of the gas and oil reserves found in the region and he promised that Greece and Italy that take up the Presidency of the European Union next year one after another, will work closely in order to advance the US-European relationship that counts for almost 50 per cent of the world GDP.
Before meeting President Obama, Samaras held talks with Secretary of State John Kerry.
Earlier, the Greek Prime Minister met with the editorial board of the Washington Post and expressed confidence that Greece could play a geopolitical role “as a bastion of stability” in the eastern Mediterranean.
Samaras three day visit to the United States comes to an end this morning (Australian time) with meeting in New York with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Greek-American entrepreneurs. He is also scheduled to meet with the editorial board of the New York Times.
