Guardian
November 23, 2011
The Greek Prime Minister, Mr Andreas Papandreou, told the Greek Parliament last night that when he arrives in London later this week to attend his first EEC summit he will let his colleagues know that in future Greece is going to be an uncomfortable partner within the Community.
Mr Papandreou was presenting his Government's programme at the opening of a three-day confidence debate. After his landslide victory in last month's general election Mr Papandreou formed Greece's first left-wing Government. Presenting its programme, he gave an uncompromising restatement of his pre-electoral pledges, offering cold comfort to those who had hoped that his first month in office would have moderated his views.
Mr Papandreou said his Government would view Europe "as an integral whole, East and West, and that the vision must not be of a new superpower, but a Europe of working people." He said that he would tell the London summit "that the rules and mechanisms of the European Community, to which our accession obliges us to adhere, make acute many of the economic problems we face and also create new ones."
His aim, he stated, was a referendum on the issue, but failing that as such, a decision rests with the head of state and President Constantine Karamanlis as the architect of Greece's EEC membership. "We remain unshaken in our position with regard to proposing a special agreement with the European communities which will allow the application of our development programme, particularly in the industrial and farm sectors, and will safeguard our national independence.
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