George Papandreou Quotes

The Greek people do not want to exit the euro. And I believe the Greek people already have shown that they have made major sacrifices to stay in the euro zone.
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.
The more there is a European solution to a theoretical, but possible, problem in the markets, the less we will have to talk about an I.M.F. solution.
The real problem in Greece is not cutting taxes, it's making sure that we don't have tax evasion.
The structures in Europe in a globalising economy need to be modernised, need to be more integrated, need to be stronger.
The unemployed in Greece can get a voucher and choose a training program somewhere in Europe to be retrained during this crisis and when this crisis is over, we make sure that that person hasn't fallen off the cliff and can come back into the labor market with new skills to find a job.
There are certain moments in the history of a nation when the choices made define the decades to come.
There is this concept of politics as a dirty game.
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.
This idea that you're a successful tough guy if you evade taxes and deceive the state has got to change.
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.
Unfortunately, corruption is widespread in government agencies and public enterprises. Our political system promotes nepotism and wasting money. This has undermined our legal system and confidence in the functioning of the state. One of the consequences is that many citizens don't pay their taxes.
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.
We are a country with great potential. We have the political will to make deep changes in a just and equitable way, to put our country back on a development path, to meet the challenges of a new world.
We are on a difficult course, on a new Odyssey for Greece, but we know the road to Ithaca and have charted the waters.
We Greeks want change. We know there are problems in our system. We have great potential but we need to manage our country well. Now that hasn't been done over the last decades. And that is, of course, what we are paying for.
We had about 60 regions in Greece and now there are only 13. It'd be like cutting down 50 states to 13 and making it more efficient.
We have a rise of extremism because we need to give a sense that we are targeting some of the deeper problems in Greece, the injustices.
We have made major reforms in Greece. When I took over after a landslide victory we had a mandate for change and I knew my major focus would be re-organizing the state.
We in Europe have great capacities.
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AuthorName
George Papandreou
Profession
Statesman
BirthDate
16 June, 1952
Country
Greece
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