Filenews 25 July 2022
A full-length interview with Wolfgang Schäuble is hosted by the "Weekend News". In his previous interview with the newspaper in 2017 he was still an all-powerful Finance Minister of Germany and Greece had before it the calvary of the 3rd Memorandum.
Now, Schäuble still plays a role in Germany's political scene, but from the position of MP. In his interview, the former finance minister emphasizes that he has a clear conscience about his choices since his motivation was to help and not to harm the Greeks. In fact, he notes that "Greece has achieved a lot"
He remains, however, pessimistic about the economic crisis. "The crisis was not finally overcome – mainly in the light of the current circumstances. But what is true is: Greece has achieved a lot! And this shows that the work done did not go to waste. We had to demand a lot from Greece, but above all Greece had to demand a lot of itself. The price for the internal devaluation, which Greece had to suffer, is very heavy for Greek citizens. But this was a decision of the Greeks and not of other Europeans", he says characteristically.
On the current situation
On the current situation, he comments: "Greece is additionally confronted with the fact that Turkey is attempting to use strategically – in a brutal way – the influence it gained through the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is not new. But we must do everything to ensure the principle that borders must not be changed unilaterally by military means. We Germans, after the destruction of two World Wars, learned our lesson – first with France and then with Poland and the Czech Republic: We no longer fight for borders, we unite Europe."
About the danger of Grexit
On July 2015 and how close Greece got to Grexit, Mr. Schäuble emphasizes: "This is what the vast majority of finance ministers in the Eurogroup had proposed. And you also know that in Greece some people argued that it is better for the country. But it did not pass to the Council of Heads of State or Government for well-balanced reasons. Then Tsipras, with the announcement of new elections, took a courageous step and again obtained a majority for the opposite policy, from the one with which he had been elected. His contribution was remarkable, which facilitated the successor government in forming the basis for the stabilization of Greece. This deserves to be recognized."
In the case of a Third World War
On the dangers of the war in Ukraine, the former finance minister says: "Given Putin's aggressive behaviour, strengthening NATO power is the right way to make it clear that we are determined to credibly defend the values of our own liberal democracies."
in.gr, tanea
