Former Eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, told an audience in Athens that the region’s financial crisis – with Greece in the epicenter – started in the United States.
Juncker blamed the Americans for their attitudes toward easy money, which he said took root in Europe. In the U.S., he said, “There is a dominant propaganda urging people to get rich in an easy way: Your money works for you while you sleep…” the Greek news agency AMNA reported. He said this was a mistake and that Europeans should go back to work.
He was speaking on Euro: Assessment and Prospects, in a event held at the Athens Concert Hall, organized jointly by the Embassy of Luxembourg in Athens and the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP).
Focusing on Greece, the former Eurogroup chief expressed regret for the “immoral words arrogantly uttered in Northern European countries by politicians and media against Greece, which has been on the right path of work since 2010.” He said that, “I΄m very proud to have reacted to the Grexit,,” noting that “Greece has great recovery potential and will be the winner.”
“From the depth of my heart, I can say that the effort made by this country is comparatively much higher than what has been required by other countries. I do admire the promptness of the Greek parliament and I do pay tribute to the government’s staff. There will be a fair wind and the Greeks have learned to pull paddle.”
He noted, however, that there was no alternative to fiscal consolidation. “There is no growth without sound public finances,” he emphasized. Referring to the need to tackle youth unemployment, Juncker said that funds of up 6 billion euros will be made available to “remove from the Eurozone the 18th member state” created by the millions of unemployed.
Juncker finally noted that he did not want to refer to a new restructuring of Greek debt, but noted that Greece, “having lost 25 pct of its GDP,” has “every reason to be proud of herself.”
Referring to the creation of the European Union – by the “war heroes” – the Luxembourg premier said, “Oblivion scares me. We should talk to young people about war and peace. Living in oblivion are the old demons of Europe, which may be revived by charismatic populists. In 1914, the big capital was unable to prevent the war that was started by a random shot. Today, there are 60 wars in the world, and Europe’s remembrance is too small.”
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