The first meeting of the PDD with the prime minister
His first visit to the Presidential Palace after taking over the duties of the new President of the Republic Konstantinou Tasoulathe prime minister performed in the morning Kyriakos Mitsotakisstarting regular monthly formal contact with him.
Mr Mitsotakis spoke of a trade war that the US started, with unpredictable results. At the same time he sent a message that trade wars eventually have only lost and no one.
Mr. Mitsotakis also referred to the important decision to characterize February 9, the day of the death of our national poet, Dionysios Solomos, as the International Day of the Greek Language. “This is a very important development that certifies the importance of cultural diplomacy,” Mr Mitsotakis stressed.
In detail the Mitsotakis – Tasoula dialogue:
K. Mitsotakis: “Mr President. To start wishing you good again. And good luck in your new term. It is our first meeting after your election, as you know about your predecessor, we had instituted a monthly meeting for a discussion of the whole material, which I can expect to establish on your own.
And this first meeting takes place in a time of great geopolitical and economic upheavals, we are facing a trade war, which began in the United States, whose results are still unpredictable to date. But all trade wars eventually have only lost and no one.
I hope that at least in terms of Union and United States relations, we will be able to make use of the next three months to negotiate at European level a trade agreement, which will be mutually beneficial, as trade between the European Union and the United States is so large and so diverse that it would be so large and so much in the US.
And I would tell you that this global economic turmoil makes the stability of the Greek economy and the fiscal balance we have achieved even more important. This fiscal balance is the foundation on which all our economic policies are built. And, of course, in any time of turmoil, having economic and political stability becomes even more important to the times.
I have said many times that I have confidence in the potential of the Greek economy and that I think the best days are still ahead of us. On the other hand, we must be particularly careful and consistent, as no one is aware of the impact of this global economic turmoil on growth rates and on the course of public finances. Nevertheless, you know that I remain optimistic.
The indications we have about the dynamics of the Greek economy are all positive. We had very positive elements on the export front in the first two months, which confirms that the extroversion of the Greek economy is now a reality that we must further strengthen. Unemployment continues to escape and tourism seems to have begun very encouraging.
Finally, let me make a reference to another development, which took place yesterday and which I know will be of great interest to you. UNESCO made a very important decision to characterize February 9, the day of the death of our national poet, Dionysios Solomos, as the International Day of the Greek Language. A proposal made by 88 UNESCO Member States. A formal validation is still needed, but the decision had already been made, and I think this is a very important development that certifies the importance of cultural diplomacy. Because the Greek language is not a language, which is spoken by hundreds of millions of people, such as other languages that have their own honorable recognition day. But a language with a very deep and heavy history and certainly an important UNESCO recognition of its importance, but of course the obligation we have as the patrons of the Greek language to protect it, promote it and spread it even further. “
Mr. Tasoulas: “Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for today’s visit just a month after my swearing -in and it is important that you have highlighted the fact that you are continuing a tradition that had started from my predecessor, Mrs. Sakellaropoulou. That is, the information between the two institutions of the state, the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister. This communication is useful and this may not be so shocking in the need for continuity.
But I take the opportunity to say that pursuing tested practices is something useful in Greece that we are not renowned for our persistence during and then. And of course I mean much heavier and much more important things that usually stop not only when governments change, but possibly during the period of the government itself. So the power of continuity of the right initiatives is important to our country.
Let’s go now to the news you brought me. Which are known, in particular the problem of the dyspostate, which exists in the international arena, which highlights not only the need for preparation, but the need for incredibly rapid adaptability to the conditions. We have dramatic changes in questioning. This challenge has not yet been embedded, but there is a dispute in both the geopolitical and geo -economic field. The geopolitical field is challenged by the security architecture, as established after ’45, after World War II in the geopolitical. In geo -economic we have a return, an attempt to return to protectionism. We may have more than 100 years back. And as you rightly said, it has only some to lose and lose strongly on both sides of the Atlantic.
I know that the European Union Commissioner is now in America. The European Union with a single voice, in which we participate and advocate and therefore address the issue without embarrassment, without tension, without hostility. There is no hostility, but to explain exactly what you said, that only to lose we have both sides. So let’s wish that these initiatives will stifle this tension, which has been caused.
I was in Mesolongi the day before yesterday, Mr President, and you will see that I combine it with the Greek language and the very pleasant news you brought. In Messolonghi, the 199th anniversary of the exit was celebrated, perhaps the most heroic event of the Greek Revolution, and I lived all the time I was there and I was a long time with parties and government representatives, a climate of national uplifting and cohesion.
The issue of the Greek language and the success of 9 February, the day of the death of Dionysius Solomos, as World Day of the Greek Language, was recognized internally by a ministerial decision, but not global. This recognition now that is being done worldwide is a matter that I am sure will unite the Greek people. He will feel proud of his language, his surrender and will open new horizons of our greatest weapon, that is, our culture.
It is no coincidence, Mr President, that both Nobels our country conquered in ’63 with George Seferis and ’79 with Elytis, ‘have to do with the Greek language. Both of our great poets in his speech at the Stockholm Academy said that the language, the Greek was honored. Seferis said that “today the Greek language is honored for centuries unbreakable and uninterrupted”. And Elytis, speaking to Greek immigrants a couple of days after the award, in November ’79, told them that there is no other language in the world where the word sky and the word sea has been spoken for 3,000 years, by Homer and Plato to this day. So this weapon, this cultural weapon, is something that is worth exploiting from now on. It is something that will unite us. We need it and will be able to make this jump abroad by holding no elements but elements that highlight tradition.
It is impressive and I will give it to you now, leaving, this speech he made in 1959 at the International Reconstruction Bank, Xenophon Zolotas, who, speaking in the late 1950s, made a two -page speech, where he used only Greek words, which used it. And I think, thanks to that speech, we have achieved some benefits from the Reconstruction Bank. It’s an interesting speech. It may be an opportunity to recall these successes now that UNESCO has finally recognized something that is well known and deserves congratulations not only to our ambassador to UNESCO, Mr. Koumoutsakos, but also to the scientists who helped him.
Mr President, you mentioned the big secret. The big secret does not have the charm of poetry we talked to before. It is pedestrian. It’s the economy that has to go well. The state must therefore take care of the economy as best possible to make the social cohesion supported not only in ways of teaching, but also with ways of improving the lives of Greeks. The Greek people, I felt this and yesterday in Mesolongi, want to be safe, they want to progress. But both of the factors of national security and social cohesion, strengthening the weaker, mainly, depend on the economy. Consequently, the state, the government, the parties, all have to help shape a climate, an atmosphere that will allow the economy to jump, not just steps ahead, so that the dividend of this success, without undermining our fiscal stability, can be able to turn us into our society.
So I officially welcome you here to the Presidential Palace. Thank you for this information that will be done and I wish every success for the benefit of the Greek people. Good Resurrection and Happy Easter to everyone. It is the celebration of hope and much more of the hope that took place. “
