George Papandreou Quotes
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We're very proud to be part of the eurozone. But this comes with obligations and it is crucial we show the world we can live up to those obligations.
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How can a parliamentarian or a leader in a country say, on the one hand, that we're going to support Greece but at the same time say that Greeks are lazy?
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I never thought about becoming a politician. But during the military dictatorship, my grandfather was put in prison six times and my father twice. If my family and my country didn't have this history, I might be a professor somewhere today.
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Today I want to send a message of optismism to all Greeks. Our road, our path, will be more stabilised. Our country will be in a better situation. We will be stronger.
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We in Europe have great capacities.
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As long as I feel I am doing what I think is right and just for my country, for the Greek people, that is enough for me. Saving Greece from this crisis was the first thing on the agenda. We are now on a much more normalised road.
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I would say we are a friend in need and I am sure that the Greek people would very much welcome the choice of the British people to come and enjoy Greece, first of all, but also that would be a sign of support.
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I never thought of politics as a profession.
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We are on a difficult course, on a new Odyssey for Greece, but we know the road to Ithaca and have charted the waters.
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Very often, people will come out and say, 'Greeks aren't doing things, Greeks aren't making changes, there's no reform,' That is hogwash. We have made a huge effort. The Greek people have made a huge effort.
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But sovereign debt is a wider question not only in Europe but across the globe. While every country is a unique case, I think it's not an issue of countries acting on their own. We need a more coordinated strategy not only in Europe but around the world.
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First of all, Greece won't go down. We're talking about a country that is capable of making change. Europe will not allow the destabilization of the 27-country euro zone. But if there were no action, then markets would start becoming jittery about other countries - and not only Spain and Portugal, but other countries in the European Union.
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Despite the deep reforms we are making, traders and speculators have forced interest rates on Greek bonds to record highs.
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Greece's history in the drachma was an up-and-down history, a roller coaster.
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There is this concept of politics as a dirty game. It's a difficult game, but it doesn't have to be dirty. I think this is what we need to bring to politics. I think politics around the world has very often been captured by big interests - 'lobbies' they call them in the States.
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Already people are saying we do need a change.
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When I was growing up in the United States and Sweden, I never thought about becoming a politician.
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I have always said I will be in politics to serve as best as I can and it will take me wherever it will take me.
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Previous governments, particularly the one before I took over, mismanaged the economy quite badly.
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Greece has given Europe the opportunity to fix a defect in the euro zone, that is the fact that we did not have a fiscal union. Now steps have been taken to begin that process. And there is more solidarity from nation to nation, and that is a good thing. That has been Greece's gift to Europe.
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The Marshall Plan was after destruction, and the U.S. came to our help and obviously this was very, very important for the future of Europe. I think now we have all the capabilities of doing it on our own and, in a sense, we have to.
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If you put all the European countries together, we are the biggest economy in the world.
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The structures in Europe in a globalising economy need to be modernised, need to be more integrated, need to be stronger.
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Europe has a lot of strength. We need to pool that strength, and I am very much in favour of that - more of a deeper political union.