‘I am confident that Greece can overcome the problems’, Norbert Barthle said




Growth has returned to Greece, the country is managing to stand on its feet and is now on a good path, the German chancellor’s new envoy to the Greek-German Assembly (GGA) Norbert Barthle said in a interview with the German paper “Stuttgarter Zeitung” published on Thursday.

Barthle, who replaced his predecessor Hans-Joachim Fuchtel in May, said he was confident that Greece will succeed in overcoming the problems, pointing to the country’s high primary surplus.
“Of course, it still suffering under a huge debt and this must worked out over the years. The important thing is to support the forces promising growth,” he said.
While many in Germany felt impatience with the “overindebted Greeks” and their lack of progress, they were not fully aware of what was happening in Greece, he said. “It is important for me to let our communities know that Greece is on a good path. This must be encouraged not undermined,” he added.
Commenting on a statement by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras about a “new start” in Greek-German relations, Barthle said that was “exactly right” and that Germany wanted to be done with the past and “break new ground”.
He noted that the GGA had suffered to some extent because of the past tension in relations, which had caused outdated stereotypes to surface and triggered a degree of animosity and resistance, but this was now largely overcome. He said that the mood had lifted since the conclusion of the third programme, while also highlighting the good working relationship between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Going forward, the GGA will focus even more on economic cooperation, Barthle said. He reported very good ties with the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, saying this was one more catalyst for cooperation of SMEs on a local government level and noting a substantial untapped potential on both sides.
He also said that the time had come for the GGA to regroup and make an assessment on what to do next, to decide which of the activities developed was lasting and viable and which were short-term: “I want to organise the GGA in such as way that this unique structure in Europe has duration,” he said.

Source: ANA-MPA

Hellasjournal - Newsletter


%d bloggers like this: