Priorities for Greece as EU President

Greece assumes its 5th Presidency of the European Union at a time that Europe is going through a crucial transitional phase. In Europe today we are called upon to tackle the economic and financial crisis by safeguarding our common currency through the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union and by dealing with recession and unemployment through boosting growth. At the same time, security challenges in our external borders are forcing us to deal with immigration issues.

The first six months of 2014 are, at the same time, a very important period for Greece. We aim at making very clear the positive aspects of our exit from the crisis, after a very long and strenuous period of great sacrifices from the Greek people.

Elections for a new European Parliament in May and the new European Commission are yet another factor that sets the context of the Greek Presidency.