We will stay in the EU and eurozone, President Pavlopoulos tells newly sworn-in diplomats

"We will stay in the EU, we will stay in the eurozone," he underlined, in the presence of Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias. "We will strive alongside the European peoples, the peoples with which we have shared a course all these years, so that the EU rediscovers the roots from which it began and on which it was founded."

Citing the famous phrase "We belong to the West," uttered many years ago by the statesman Constantine Karamanlis, who was instrumental in Greece's entry int the then European Economic Community (EEC), Pavlopoulos said the EU had been founded on the pillars of democracy, public interest and social justice.
"This is the battle we will fight in Europe and the eurozone," he said.

On major foreign policy issues for Greece, the president focused particularly on relations with Turkey, on the dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over the name issue and the Cyprus problem.
For the first two, he noted that Greece's positions were based on history and international law and that Greece was not demanding anything that did not belong to it.

With respect to the Cyprus issue, the president said that this was both an international and national issue, adding that it was inconceivable that there should be continued occupation of Cyprus, an EU member-state, in violation of international and European law.

"A solution to the Cyprus problem must be found as soon as possible. And this concerns not only Greece but also Europe itself. It is Europe's obligation," he said, stressing that the state that arises from such a solution must be recognised by all as a European state, and one whose structure is compatible with all aspects of European law and practices.