“The possibility of a Grexit is still lingering. We need a Greece that is serious,” said former prime minister Costas Simitis from the 2nd Delphi Economic Forum podium on Friday.
Simitis noted that “the government thinks that Greece is in a good position because the European elections and the hard stance it keeps will have an effect. I disagree completely. (Europe) will not back down at the level the government desires.”
The former prime minister said that what the country needs first is to build trust. “We are in the third memorandum and, again, we face problems that should have been solved earlier, such as structural reforms and privatizations,” he said.
“Little Greece should be a serious Greece” Simitis stressed and noted that, “The main objective of Greece should be the restoration of trust. Because, distrust means very few foreign investments in the country” and “continuous increases in the interest rate if Greece wants to borrow from the markets.”
Simitis said that another major problem for the country is the lack of a development model. In this regard, he said, the continuous obstacles Athens is creating reduces growth potential and increases the time needed to return to normality.
Regarding the future of the European Union, Simitis said that, “The common path of EU countries is a huge investment that a member can not sacrifice without paying a considerable cost itself,” said. “The international interdependence is not a transient phenomenon. In the era of globalization no state has absolute autonomy, since problems (such as migration or climate change) require concurrence and cooperation.”
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