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President Obama and Greek Prime Minister News Conference. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired November 15, 2016 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[09:30:00] ALEXIS TSIPRAS, GREEK PRIME MINISTER (through translator): In relation to that, President Obama and I discussed a number of important things, such as the continuation of our bilateral economic and business corporation. More specifically, the important potential for investment in Greece, in a series of sectors such as energy, tourism, agriculture, research and technology. We also discussed the future where Greece, with its important shipping power, can become an important transit center for trade, transport and energy, linking Europe to Asia and to North Africa.

We also discussed important projects underway, which upgrade the role of our country in the - on the energy map, such as the TAP, the IGB (ph) pipelines, the upgrading of the L&G terminal and the FSRU (INAUDIBLE) plant in Luxembourg, which is now being designed. Also we discussed the possibility of opening new natural gas corridors in the eastern Mediterranean, which would play an important role to peace and stability in our region.

We have also discussed the excellent Greek human potential, human capital, and especially young scientists. We have stressed the huge potential opening from - for the cooperation between the American and the Greek business communities in the fields of innovation and startup companies in Greece. And we have also discussed the current regional developments, the great challenges in security, migration, the need to strengthen our cooperation on these issues. We have discussed the critical role that Greece plays as a pillar of peace and security in a region where stabilization is on the grow (ph).

We - it's a country of Europe, or the eastern Mediterranean of the Balkans, of the wider Black Sea neighborhood, which promotes - steadily promotes bilateral and alongside Cypress the (INAUDIBLE) cooperation with all the countries of the region on the basis of international law. A country which is using its role as an active member of the E.U. and NATO to promote peace, stability and security in the region, and which is gradually strengthening its role in order to promote border security and cooperation against terrorism. A country which, despite its financial difficulties, has offered support to hundreds of thousands of refugees who arrived on its shores. A country when - which, when the Balkan corridor was unilaterally closed and despite the pressure exercised a need (ph) to violate our common values still insists that the only way to deal with the refugee issue is respect for international law, cooperation with transit countries and countries of origin, and dealing with the origins of migration, with the reasons of migration. And new (ph) this framework we have discussed the importance of

implementing the E.U. Turkey agreement and continuation of NATO operations in (INAUDIBLE) and we have stressed the needs to do whatever possible to promote peace and stability in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. The hardship, the fighting against civilians should stop and terrorism should be fought with - decisively.

We have also stressed the need to restart the credible talks on the Middle East issue. And in this framework, I have underscored my commitment to dialogue and cooperation with our neighboring Turkey, a country that plays an important role for the future of our region. But I still stress that the promotion of this important relations can only take place on the basis of mutual respect without threats of war and questioning of sovereign rights.

[09:35:12] And, of course, we have discussed the Cypress issue. The need to find a fair and viable solution on the basis of U.N. resolutions and the incompatible with the fact that Cypress is an E.U. member's state. We have, therefore, expressed our support to the very important, critical by communal talks which are underway. Tomorrow I will be meeting President (INAUDIBLE), who will be in Athens.

We need to be very careful at this very critical point in relation to these talks because important issues are still pending. Our objective is to achieve a solution that will benefit all of the Cyprants (ph) and that - a solution that will promote - build - confidence building on the island. And this, in our view, cannot happen without the departure of the occupation army and without doing away with the obsolete system of (INAUDIBLE).

So, before I conclude, I should like to once more thank President Obama for opting to visit our country.

I would like now to remember the words of another important American president who, during the previous century, had to fight in order to deal with challenges similar to the current ones, security, economic crisis or migration of movements of populations, and he had said that real freedom for people can only exist whenever there is security and independence, and he had only said - he had also said that famine and unemployment are the raw material for dictatorships.

These words are very topical now days, and I am certain that our peoples who are committed to common values will fight in any - in every way to deter any possibility of us going back into history. It is our duty to make a leap into the future, and I believe that we will make it.

Thank you.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: (INAUDIBLE).

Thank you, Prime Minister Tsipras, for your kind words and for welcoming me to Athens today. I've always wanted to come to Greece, and I'm delighted to be able to make this part of my last trip overseas as president of the United States. I think we all know that the world owes an enormous debt to Greece and the Greek people. So many of our ideas of democracy, so much of our literature and philosophy and science can be traced back to roots right here in Athens. I'm told there's a saying from those ancient times, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE). When someone or something is good and beautiful on the outside, but it also is good and noble on the inside in terms of character and in terms of purpose. And I think that's a fine description of the friendship that exists between the Greek people and the American people. And the ideas of ancient Greece helped inspire America's founding fathers as they reached for democracy. Our revolutionary ideas helped inspire Greeks as they sought their own freedom. And Americans came here to help fight for Greek independence.

At the dawn of the Cold War, when President Truman committed the United States to the defense of Greece, he said, "I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way."

To this day, the United States is profoundly grateful for our friendship and alliance with Greece, and I'm personally very grateful to my many friends in the Greek-American community. Sons and daughters of Alinis (ph) who have found success in every walk of American life.

And, Alexis, I want to thank you for your commitment to our alliance and for the good work that we did today.

As the prime minister already noted, we spent much of our time discussing the economic situation here in Greece and how Greece can continue to move forward. I know this has been a painful and difficult time, especially for Greek workers and families, pensioners and young people. This crisis is not an abstraction, but has had a very concrete and devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across this country.

[09:40:19] In our meeting Alexis outlined next steps, including reforms to make Greece more attractive to investment and to prevent the kind of imbalances that led to the debt crisis in the first place. In other words, Greece, under his leadership, continues to do the hard work necessary to recover.

At the same time, I've been clear from the beginning of this crisis that in order to make reforms sustainable, the Greek economy needs the space to return to growth and start creating jobs again. We cannot simply look to austerity as a strategy and it is incredibly important that the Greek people see improvements in their daily lives so that they can carry with them the hope that their lives will get better.

And in this context, as Greece continues reform, the IMF has said that debt relief is crucial. I will continue to urge creditors to take the steps needed to put Greece on a path towards a durable economic recovery because it's in all of our interests that Greece succeeds. We all want the Greek people to prosper, to be able to provide a good life for their families and their children. That would be good for Greece. It would be good for the European Union. Good for the United States. And ultimately good for the world. Beyond economic issues, we discussed the pressing security challenges

that we face as NATO allies. I want to take this opportunity to commend Greece for being one of the five NATO allies that spends 2 percent of GDP on defense, a goal that we have consistently set, but not everybody has met. Greece has done this even during difficult economic times. If Greece can meet this NATO commitment, all our allies should be able to do so.

We also discussed the need to continue sharing intelligence, to help prevent terrorist attacks, the importance of keeping sanctions, including E.U. sanctions in place until Russia's fully implemented the Minsk agreement, along with Ukraine. As I did privately with Alexis, I want to thank the Greek people publically for their humanitarian response to the crisis of so many migrants and refugees seeking safety in Europe. Greeks, especially on the islands, have shown extraordinary compassion and they've rightly earned the admiration of the world. Again, Greeks have done so even as they faced their own great economic hardships, and that's a testament, I think, to their solidarity and commitment to treating people with kindness and fairness.

Prime Minister Tsipras has made commitments to increase housing for unaccompanied children and to improve access to education for children who are migrants and refugees. And in these goals, it's an obligation of the United States to help because this cannot be viewed just as a Greek problem, this is an international problem. And I reaffirmed my support to help in any ways that we can, including reaffirming America's support for the deal between the E.U. and Turkey that can manage rivals in Europe in a way that is orderly and humane.

Finally, as Alexis mentioned, we discussed Cypress, where the prospects for a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement are the best that they've been for some type. It doesn't mean that success is guaranteed, but the possibility of resolving a decade's long conflict is there. And we urge the parties to continue their work. The interests of all Cypriots (ph) would be advanced with a bi-zonal, bi- communal federation. We're hopeful that a solution that's durable, which would create new economic opportunities for all the people across Cypress, is within reach. And it would be a powerful example to the world of what's possible with diplomacy and compromise.

So, again, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for welcoming me. Thank you for your partnership. The Greek people have gone through some very difficult times, and there's still a hard road ahead, but despite those hardships, Greece has continued to be a reliable ally, has shown true compassion to fellow human beings in need. It's an example of the Greek character and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to say more to the Greek people in a speech that I'll deliver tomorrow.

For now, on behalf of the American people, just let me say that we are proud to count Greece as one of our closest allies and one of our greatest friends. So, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

[09:45:12] TSIPRAS (through translator): We will now proceed to questions. There will be two questions from Greek media and two questions from American media.

First question, Mr. Haritos (ph) from (INAUDIBLE), the state TV.

QUESTION: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) to take you seven, eight years back when you enter the White House, the unemployment, the rates of unemployment, it was 6 percent. The next two years, then to 11.6 and today you managed to leave (ph) it back with 5 percent, which is the lowest ever.

OBAMA: 4.9.

QUESTION: 4.9. (INAUDIBLE) of your country, you managed to grow it almost 3, 2.6 trillion. So on the contrary, of course, there is nothing to compare between Greek and United States economy, but on the contrary, Greece, the last seven years, is following the treatment (ph) of the finance (INAUDIBLE), the foreign financial institutions, and we're still in the eye of the storm of the recession. So in the same time there is no discussion about the debt relief. So my question is, how far this economy can go with this reform programs without any discussion of a debt relief? How far this relationship between Greece and the foreign institutions can last?

OBAMA: Well, you're right, that it - you can't entirely compare between the United States and Greece for a range of reasons, not just because of the size of the economy.

We went through a very severe contraction. We were losing 800,000 jobs a month when I came into office. In fact, the economy was contracting faster than it did during the Great Depression, but we were able to intervene, apply lessons learned and stabilize and then begin growth again. But I do believe that one of the lessons we tried to apply is that it is important to combine structural reforms and good fiscal stewardship with a growth strategy because when your economy is growing and more revenue's coming in, that helps leave debt. And sometimes if your only approach is cutting spending at a time when the economy's contracting, then the economy will contract further and that can add debt.

Now the advantage we had is that the dollar is the reserve currency of the world. Even in the midst of crisis, people were still buying U.S. Treasury bills. We were not part of a broader arrangement like the Eurozone. So it gave us some additional flexibility.

But the key lesson that we've drawn from our experience, and it's true that we recovered faster and better, frankly, than most of Europe, is that particularly when the economy is still struggling, putting people back to work, finding ways to spur economic activity ultimately can help to reduce the structural deficits and debts that countries experience.

I think the path that Greece is currently on is the right one. You've engaged in some very difficult structural reforms. And I think the Greek people, although it is difficult and challenging and the politics of it I know are not good, should appreciate the fact that in this global economy, the Greek economy was going to have to go through some structural reforms. We all do, all the time. The United States has to go through structural reforms in terms of improving our education system, or revamping our infrastructure, or, you know, looking at some regulations that weren't properly controlling excesses on Wall Street. So we initiated - or health care reform. We had to initiate a whole range of structural reforms.

[09:50:00] They're not the same as the ones the Greek - Greece has had to do, but these were necessary reforms. And the prime minister and his government being willing to move forward on those I think will lead to Greece being more competitive and more attractive place for investment in the future.

Look, the - and the Greek people are entrepreneurial. There are enormous resources in this country. My hope is, is that more and more investors around the world see an opportunity to do business here in Greece.

But even as you have those structural reforms, our argument has always been that when the economy contracted this fast, when unemployment is this high, that there also has to be a growth agenda to go with it. And it is very difficult to imagine the kind of growth strategy that's needed without some debt relief mechanism.

Now, the politics of this are difficult in Europe. And I think in fairness to some of the governments up north that I know are not always popular here in Greece, it's important to recognize that, you know, they have their own politics and their populations and their institutions often are resistant to some of these debt relief formulas.

But I think that having seen Greece begin many of these difficult steps towards structural reform, having shown a commitment to change, with the Greek people having endured some significant hardships for many years now, there should be an opportunity I think for both sides to recognize that if we can come up with a durable solution as opposed to each year or every six months having a new negotiation, that that could potentially be good for everyone. And now that the Greek economy is growing again, the timing may be right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first question from the White House reporter (INAUDIBLE) AFP, Jerome.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Yes.

QUESTION: A lot of people in Europe are still struggling to understand what happened on November 18 in the United States. Do you believe it's the exact same dynamic as Brexit, which happened six months before? And does it have to do with leaders struggling to read the mood of their country? Do you have the feeling that while in power you underestimated anger or resentment or fear in America?

And do you, Prime Minister Tsipras, President Obama has repeatedly said, including today, that Greece should get substantial debt relief. From your conversation with him today, do you - are you hopeful that he might convince Chancellor Merkel to make a move in that regard later this week? OBAMA: No two countries are identical and obviously there's a

difference between a referendum on a very complex relationship between Great Britain and the rest of Europe, and a presidential election in the United States. You know, presidential elections always turn on personalities. They turn on how campaigns are run. They turn on natural desires for change. If you've had an incumbent who's been there for eight years, there's a temptation to think, well, you know, let's maybe make a change. I think there's a whole range of factors involved.

But I do think that there is a common theme that we've seen in a lot of advanced economies and that we've see around the world, although they manifest themselves in different ways. Globalization, combined with technology, combined with social media and constant information, have disrupted people's lives sometimes in very concrete ways. A manufacturing plant closes and suddenly an entire town no longer has what was the primary source of employment. But also psychologically. People are less certain of their national identities or their place in the world. It starts looking different and disorienting.

[09:55:18] And there is no doubt that that has produced populist movements both from the left and the right in many countries in Europe. When you see a Donald Trump and a Bernie Sanders, very unconventional candidates, have considerable success, then obviously there's something there that's being tapped into. A suspicion of globalization. A desire to rein in its excesses. A suspicion of elites and governing institutions that people feel may not be responsive to their immediate needs. And that sometimes gets wrapped up in issues of ethnic identity or religious identity or cultural identity. And that can be a volatile mix. It's important to recognize, though, that those trends have always been there, and it's the job, I think, of leaders to try to address people's real, legitimate concerns and channel them in the most constructive ways possible.

Did I recognize that there was anger or frustration in the American population? Of course I did. First of all, we had to fight back from the worst recession since the Great Depression and I can guarantee you if your housing values have crashed and you've lost your - most of your pension and you lost your job, you're going to be pretty angry. And so we've fought back and recovered, but that left, I think, fear and anxiety in a lot of people. A sense that the economy wasn't as certain as it could be and maybe the game was rigged on Wall Street or by special interests in Washington or what have you. And that's been there.

I was also aware of it because of the fact that, you know, you've seen some of the rhetoric among Republican elected officials and activists and media. Some of it pretty troubling and not necessarily connected to facts, but being used effectively to mobilize people. And, obviously, President-elect Trump tapped into that particular strain within the Republican Party and then was able to broaden that enough and get enough votes to win the election.

The lesson I draw, and I think people can draw a lot of lesson, but maybe one that cuts across countries, is we have to deal with issues like inequality. We have to deal with issues of economic dislocation. We have to deal with people's fears that their children won't do as well as they have. The more aggressively and effectively we deal with those issues, the less those fears may channel themselves into counterproductive approaches that pit people against each other.

And, frankly, that was - that's been my agenda for the last eight years. I think raising wages, investing in infrastructure, making sure that people have access to good educations that are - equip them for jobs in the future. Those are all agenda items that would help alleviate some of those economic pressures and dislocations that people are experiencing. The problem was, I couldn't convince the Republican Congress to pass a lot of them.

[09:59:59] Now, having said that, people seem to think I did a real - pretty good job. And so there is this mismatch I think between frustration and anger. Perhaps the view of the American people was