INTERWIEW Dimitris Kourkoulas: First impact of the rise of Eurosceptic forces in EP should be a wake-up call

Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas staded in an interview to AGERPRES that boost economic growth and reduce unemployment, especially among young people should remain priorities of the European Union institutions and leaders. These objectives, followed by the Greek Presidency of the EU, are to be concluded at the end of the course, are effective ways to combat anti-European and Eurosceptic tendencies that have marked the recent European elections. Kourkoulas perceive the results recorded in the UK and France as a "wake-up" of the pro-European forces, "but continues to enjoy a solid majority in Parliament." On the other hand, Dimitris Kourkoulas believes that the recent events in Ukraine have the gift to remind us all that peace, "that a few generations ago it was the exception to the rule represented by war", is one of the most important achievements of European integration.

AGERPRES: Please provide us first a brief review of the Greek Presidency of the European Union, which is to end on June 30.

Dimitris Kourkoulas: Not surprisingly, in this time of deep economic and social crisis, we have chosen the priorities which have been considered to address the needs and concerns of our citizens, as well as measures to boost growth and jobs creation. We tried at the European level to introduce decisions that contribute to this effect in the multi-annual budget of the Union. We also considered implementation of the Initiative for Employment among young people because they are very hard hit by unemployment, not only in Greece but also in other countries.

The second group of priorities was related to the institutional framework of the eurozone and the EU as a whole, and here we made impressive progress in the Union Banking...