In an interview he gave on Monday, 16 October 2017, on “STO KOKKINO” radio station, the Alternate Minister of National Defence, Dimitris Vitsas, stated, among others, the following:
On the Prime Minister’s visit to the US and his meeting with the US President:
Meeting with two US Presidents within the past year, as well as with leaders of other major countries of Europe and the rest of the world is important. This happens because Greece is changing and overcomes all difficulties and obstacles of this crisis. It also enters a new era, when Greece will no longer be a source of troubling news, but a source of good news, i.e. news that it overcomes the problems of the past, as well as that it overcomes the causes that led to the crisis experienced by the Greek people during the past eight years.
On the climate he found during his own visit to the US:
In the US, they are looking forward to the Prime Minister’s official visit, for their own reasons of course, as well as because they expect the new Greece to play an important role in the economic growth and stability of the region. The Americans are particularly interested.
I was met – because the two visits are not connected – with fierce interest for investments; my goal was to promote our defence industry, as well as bring together various companies which co-operate with Greek state and private companies.
I would say that the Americans currently see two things in Greece. First, they see a source of peace, a source of stability in the broader region and second, they see that it can be a hub for economic growth in a region currently hit by war and serious problems, such as the refugee issue. It has been struck hard, but it manages.
On if the Americans see Greece as a stable country in which they can invest:
In this process, everyone tries to create the conditions to benefit himself. Our interest is to benefit the country. Currently, the country needs investments, among others, it needs to turn the table and send a message that we can guarantee a win-win situation, beneficial to all. Based not on the premise that Greece is the land of opportunity, but on the premise that Greece is in the centre of a region that needs growth.
On Greek – Turkish relations:
Regarding the Greek – Turkish relations, I think our allies have a clearer image that Greece is not the one responsible, on the contrary it is the one defending both peace and its territorial integrity. So, we can add more allied voices to have a broader audience say to our ally, Turkey, that it must also de-escalate its rhetoric and actions in the Aegean, as well as in the broader region. Because, right now, Turkey is a country with many problems to solve which can not be solved using this aggressive rhetoric. Turkey has many open fronts in almost all directions. It must return to its European course, and Greece can help towards this direction, but it will not do so while Turkey challenges international law and the international treaties.
On if the meeting of the Greek Prime Minister with the US President will be enough to resolve and speed up economic matters:
It forms a framework. What is important is what this meeting radiates. It must be followed by specific, practical actions, which will create either co-operations at company or economy level or at the level of common goals on what must be done in the region financially, such as with oil, natural gas, and a host of other things. This will be the course of action in this kind of co-operations, either at company level, or at the level of broader activities or the creation of new production lines within the framework of existing co-operations in the defence industry. So, you radiate something, form a framework, and then use it to your advantage.
On the closure of the third evaluation:
Everyone wants to close it as soon as possible. We, on our part, rush in order to have only the points of the evaluation where we already have an agreement. We do not want additional things brought to the table and there will be none. I will repeat what I told you before: Greece is now a source of good news. News that we leave this crisis behind us. News that we can come to a new situation, far from the model that brought us to the crisis. And news that this growth will be fair to the Greeks, i.e. it will soon start to affect the everyday life of citizens.
