“In difficult times for the country, PASOK held high the responsibility for the strong presence of Greece within the European Union” emphasized the President of PASOK-Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis, during the meeting he had on Monday morning with the President of the SPD, (Social Democratic Party of Germany) Lars Klingbeil.

“I welcome the President of the SPD. He honors us with our meeting today, at a very difficult moment for Greece after the incredible tragedy in Tempi, which cost the lives of dozens of Greek citizens, mainly young people. A tragic moment for our country that highlights the deficit in infrastructure but also in meritocracy and transparency” said Mr. Androulakis and added that PASOK-Movement for Change’s stake on the way to the national elections is to ensure “a strategic strengthening of the state law, democratic institutions and of course health, education in order to deal with the great inequalities that arose after the great economic crisis as well as the energy crisis”.

Against the backdrop of the upcoming Summit, Mr. Androulakis noted that “it is worth remembering the book by SPD President and former Chancellor Helmut Schmitt on self-reliant Europe. This is the vision of every pro-European democrat who wants us to live together, with solidarity, democracy and dignity. A self-reliant Europe means a Europe with strong financial instruments that will create a strong competitive base and address its dependence on third countries. A Europe that will proceed with institutional changes, a Europe that will have a common foreign policy and a common defense policy to face challenges, such as those we see escalating in recent years. We must serve this Europe as European Democrats and Socialists. I want to welcome you again, all dear friends. I know that we share common anxieties about the future of our peoples and the future of the peoples of Europe. And I want to underline that just as the SPD in difficult times was a party of responsibility, so too In difficult times for the country, PASOK held the responsibility high for Greece to have a strong presence within the European Union. We are a historical party, a party that tried to change Greece through reforms, you know that very well, and we aspire to continue doing this for many years. We are a force for progress, change, a faction that serves democracy, institutions and human rights.”

The President of the SPD, for his part, noted among other things:

“I promised at our meeting months ago that I would visit Athens to express our support for your election campaign. For me it was very important to send a strong signal today, here from Athens, that we are friends, we work closely with PASOK and we want a strong PASOK. Earlier in the morning I received the phone call from Chancellor Olaf Solz and I convey his wishes for a strong PASOK. He knows the close ties between our parties.
One of the topics that will concern us is the tragic train accident. I express our support to the Greek people. It was an accident that shocked us. As Nikos mentioned, European integration is important. New steps need to be taken in this direction.”