George Papandreou Quotes

Unfortunately, corruption is widespread in government agencies and public enterprises.

If we were the problem, it would be very convenient, kick Greece out, everything's fine. But what happened to Spain? What about Portugal? What about Italy? What about the whole of the Eurozone? We need more cooperation and less simplification and prejudice about what has to happen.

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 within the Eurozone.

Greece has given Europe the opportunity to fix a defect in the euro zone, that is the fact that we did not have a fiscal union. Now steps have been taken to begin that process. And there is more solidarity from nation to nation, and that is a good thing. That has been Greece's gift to Europe.

I will always be upfront with the Greek people, so we can solve the country's problems together.

This idea that you're a successful tough guy if you evade taxes and deceive the state has got to change.

Everyone needs to carry out his own personal revolution.

I would say we are a friend in need and I am sure that the Greek people would very much welcome the choice of the British people to come and enjoy Greece, first of all, but also that would be a sign of support.

There is this concept of politics as a dirty game.

First of all, Greece won't go down. We're talking about a country that is capable of making change. Europe will not allow the destabilization of the 27-country euro zone. But if there were no action, then markets would start becoming jittery about other countries - and not only Spain and Portugal, but other countries in the European Union.

Politics also means educating people. It's important to speak openly with our fellow Greeks, to tell them what our problems are and that we have to change something.

Markets are saying pretty much what I'm saying too: that Greece is doing what it can, but that Greece is not going to be able to carry the weight of all of Europe and the other problems that Europe has.

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.

How can a parliamentarian or a leader in a country say, on the one hand, that we're going to support Greece but at the same time say that Greeks are lazy?

This is global governance in the making. But we must agree, and agree to a binding commitment.

Every leader wants to put his or her imprint on the work that they do, and grow up in specific eras.

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.

If you put all the European countries together, we are the biggest economy in the world.

I have always said I will be in politics to serve as best as I can and it will take me wherever it will take me.

Greece has great strengths, but much of this potential has been wasted. That's because of a wider political system, but also because of a lack of an institutional framework.

I would like to see Greece as a case study, an opportunity for Europe to strengthen its coordination of fiscal policy.

My hope is that we will turn Greece into maybe the most transparent country in the world with everything on the web.

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.

If we were going to default, we would have decided that many months ago. It would be wrong for the Greek economy, it would be wrong for the European economy, it would make things worse in the end. That's why we're taking the pain and making these structural reforms, and we're on target.