Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Greece, Evangelos Venizelos, made the following statement in Brussels:
“Greece comes into today’s Eurogroup meeting having fulfilled all the requirements for the approval of the new program -a basic parameter of which is the PSI- within the context of the European Council decision of October 26/27, 2011.
In all matters, including the agreement with the private sector, Greece has remained faithful to the decisions and directives of the Eurozone bodies. This has been confirmed in the previous two Eurogroup meetings.
Therefore, it is obvious that we anticipate to see a long period of uncertainty coming to a close today, a period that benefited neither the Greek economy, nor the Euro Area overall. Europe knows that what is important is to send clear messages, with conclusive and implementable decisions and with fixed rules that do not change every now and then.
From their side, the Greek people is sending Europe the message that they have, and they will, make the necessary sacrifices in order for our country to regain its place within the European family, thus protecting the achievements of many decades in the past. For Greeks, this is a matter of national dignity and a national strategic choice and no other integrated and responsible choice can be opposed to it.
Until the very last moment, the negotiation carries on. Technical problems are being discussed, individual parameters are being examined and preferences or priorities of institutional partners or member-states are affecting the mood of the talks.
But I believe that all those things will be finally decided based on the decision of October 26, using as high criterion the principles that underpin the European project”.
