Kastellorizo 23 April 2010 and 17 April 2018: Eight years ago, it was Prime Minister Giorgos Papandreou who had chosen the remote island of Kastellorizo to announce that Greece had surrendered to the International Monetary Fund and the bailout agreements. On 17. April 2018, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras chose again this small island to to herald the end of bailout agreements and memoranda.
“Today, eight years after the Greek people learned the bad news about the memoranda from this island, we have come to a point when we are leaving the difficult days behind us (…) we have entered into the final stretch before a final and clean exit from the period of aggressive austerity and suffocating surveillance that had a heavy cost,” Tsipras said in a speech that was live transmitted on television channels.
Apparently inspired by the beautiful landscape, Tsipras said in a poetic mood “After a thousand waves, Greece finds a harbor again, a safe harbor in order to start a new journey with compass the needs and dreams of the people.”
“>Alexis Tsipras visited Kastellorizo to inaugurate two desalination units on the island, short before continuing to the neighboring island of Rhodes to attend the Regional Development Conference.
“I didn;t come to address the nation, although the landscape is a good place to make such addresses,” he said hinting at his predecessor who borught the international creditors to the country.
Turkey
The Greek Prime Minister could not but also send a message to Turkey, as the island is one of those Ankara claims to integrate within its own borders. “We don’t negotiate, we don’t trade a spanof soil,” he said.
Η Ελλάδα ούτε απειλεί, αλλά ούτε φοβάται κανέναν.
Η Ελλάδα είναι μια χώρα που αποτελεί πυλώνα σταθερότητας στην ευρύτερη περιοχή, που διαθέτει ισχυρή αποτρεπτική δύναμη αλλά και ισχυρά ερείσματα και συμμαχίες στη διεθνή κοινότητα. pic.twitter.com/Gb6f9Lrmo4— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) April 17, 2018
“Greece neither threatens nor is afraid of anyone. Greece is a country that is a pillar of stability in the wider region, that has a strong deterrent power but also strong foundations and alliances in the international community,” Tsipras said but also posted on his Twitter account.
Η επιθετικότητα και η προκλητικότητα δεν αποτελούν ένδειξη ισχύος. Μέλημά μας θα συνεχίσει να είναι η διαμόρφωση θετικής ατζέντας στις διμερείς μας σχέσεις με την Τουρκία, καθώς αυτός είναι ο ενδεδειγμένος τρόπος για τη συνεργασία και τη σταθερότητα στην περιοχή μας. pic.twitter.com/0aJOdFszr2
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) April 17, 2018
“Aggression and provocation are not a sign of power. Our concern will continue to be a positive agenda in our bilateral relations with Turkey, as this is the appropriate way for cooperation and stability in our region.”
PM Giorgos Papandreou announcing the agreement he made with the IMF for the first bailout for Greece.
