Crisis-hit Greece’s leader in Russia to seek support and closer ties with Kremlin
Issue:
March 2010, Vol. 5, No. 2
Tags:
Financial crisis
After failing to secure concrete financial aid from its EU-zone partners, George Papandreou, the new socialist prime minister of Greece, experiencing serious fiscal and budgetary difficulties that could possibly threaten its euro-zone membership, was recently on a short visit to Moscow to seek closer ties with Russia on key issues of bilateral importance to kick-starting his country’s near-comatose economy. Commenting on Greece’s current dire economic situation, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the he was aware of the situation and its seriousness, and expressed hope that the bilateral talks with his Greek counterpart will help the Mediterranean nation to survive its present economic difficulties.
From his side, the Greek prime minister also hailed the bilateral relations with Russia, before going on to briefly outline Athens’ expectations from cooperation with Moscow and his government’s austerity measures to tackle the country’s daunting economic woes that now threaten the whole structural foundation of the common European currency. “Suffice it to mention that we have adopted a Stabilization and Development Program, which envisages the reduction of our budget deficit to 4% next year, with the ultimate goal of bringing our economic parameters in line with the EU-zone requirements by 2012.”
Web design,