Speeches and Articles 2008
Interview with Kaki Bali of "Angelioforos" (Thessaloniki daily)
U.S. Ambassador to Greece Daniel V. Speckhard
Ambassador Daniel V. Slpeckhard
Consul General's Residence, Thessaloniki
September 6, 2008
QUESTION: Why did you come to the Fair?
AMBASSADOR: I think the Fair is actually a very important event, and we actually support it wholeheartedly. It has got a long history and tradition and it brings out I understand some quarter a million people each year. I love this city; I have been here three times already in my first half year so I wanted to support it. I am also big in supporting business and economic development; I pushed the idea that this area can be an important gateway, as the local leaders call it, for the Balkans, I think that’s a fantastic idea for this region, so we support wholeheartedly this effort. I am going to the speech tonight and I am going to be touring the fair tomorrow. American businesses are here as you know, they have some exhibits in this fair, so …
QUESTION: It’s your first time at this fair, no?
AMBASSADOR: It’s the first time. I arrived here in Greece, late last November
QUESTION: Are you happy with the support of the Greek government with the new pipeline in the Black sea, and is there place for two pipelines, Nabucco and South stream?
AMBASSADOR: What we have been pushing the government is make sure that you don’t do anything to undermine the policy that you espouse, and the U.S. espouses which is diversity of energy security and supplies. So, as you develop your policies, as you work on the individual pipelines make sure you reinforce that policy by ensuring that what you do doesn’t undercut that policy. Our sense has been that it’s important as Greece makes these decisions that the economics of them drives that and that the decisions are made in very concerned and open ways. So, I think it is important that TGI is successful, and your government has done a lot to see that happen. I very much support that and I think they are doing a good job there. I think Nabucco is important as well to develop for European Union energy security. I realize that’s not as directly affecting you and then there’s South Stream. I do think that the Russian monopolist, Gazprom sees the world differently. It is not in their interest for diversity of suppliers, they do better if they are the monopolist, they do things that are not based on market economics, they can support pipelines with subsidies because if they can get a monopoly position they can charge higher prices, or as we say in economics, economic high rents for those services, so they can afford to lose money in some of those propositions in the hopes that they will be able to get a monopoly. And I do think that the Russians are going to be competing for the same gas for their pipeline as Nabucco and TGI which is the Russians want the Caspian gas to fill much of these pipelines. So I think it is important for Greece to think about these things when it makes those decisions, but that is a Greek decision by the end of the day.
QUESTION: But actually the Caspian gas does not belong to the Russians or to the west. They can decide where to give it. Making a pipeline that will have a life of 20-30 years; nobody can be sure what the suppliers are going to do in the next thirty years. Perhaps they are going to say that we give all the Caspian gas to China.
AMBASSADOR: Well, it will depend in part on what routes are developed. Because gas and oil are only as good as the ability to get into the market, so how those routes develop will be important. What we have been saying all along is as long as it is based on market economics, business and commercial decisions we are ok with that. What we are nervous about is that if politics of monopolists connecting with government forces pressure governments to provide gas through a way that they wouldn’t otherwise provide it. That’s what bothers us.
QUESTION: Please tell me about the BTC – I was under the impression that it wasn’t business decision either. It was made without being sure that you could get your money, it was very expensive for not a lot of oil. It was also an economic plus a political decision.
AMBASSADOR: I was actually working in Washington, and I actually worked on this issue at the beginning of the Clinton administration. I can tell you it was an economic decision. The economics supported it. The risk was not an economic risk; the risk was a political risk. Essentially the question being asked then, which is not that much different than today, were the Russians going to allow this pipeline to develop that was not favorable to their economic interest and that was the question that made businesses nervous as to what the situation would be. But it wasn’t somehow un-economic. It was way economic and proved to be so, as long as the politics stayed out of it.
QUESTION: The current crisis is Caucasus, and I suppose it’s not going to be the next world war, but do you believe there is a way out soon.
AMBASSADOR: I definitely think there is a way out soon. There has been a ceasefire agreement that’s been agreed to. The way out is for Russia to follow through with its commitment on the ceasefire that they withdraw to their pre-August 6 positions and start showing the international community that they are following though on this ceasefire. I think that will do a lot to change perceptions and provide additional comfort to the international community that Russia is following through on those commitments to deescalate the situation and to respect Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
QUESTION: Do you believe that American ships in the Black Sea are helping to deescalate the situation?
AMBASSADOR: I think when it comes to humanitarian aid which is the purpose of those ships and you need to provide something quickly and immediately in a crisis like that, you need to make decisions first on human lives. That’s why those decisions were put there. We are not looking for a confrontation with Russia that’s not the purpose of those ships. The purpose of those ships is humanitarian assistance, and I don’t think we should, when it comes to human lives, be playing with politics. .
QUESTION: You have a feeling of Europe, of European policy and how complicated it is.
AMBASSADOR: Yes, it’s very complicated, it’s a big family.
QUESTION: Do you think that Georgia and Ukraine have more chances to be accepted to EU and NATO because it’s a matter of European Union as well and other NATO members?
AMBASSADOR: I think, and I am not trying to hide from this but because I am not sitting in Brussels right now, I just don’t feel like, I can make my own personal opinions but are not based on the reality of where governments are today, because what I’m simply doing is reading the newspapers that you write.
QUESTION: I would like an answer regarding the Visa waiver program.
AMBASSADOR: I am still hopeful but the months keep rolling by, but I am still hopeful by the end of this year or early next year we will be able to have that result. We have been negotiating very hard with your government on it, your government has been very thorough in its own review with all the bilateral agreements that have to be in place, they have special interests that they are protecting, and have negotiated with us as well, so there’s two sides to this and any time there are two sides in any negotiation it takes time. I think we have made dramatic progress since the beginning of the year on this and with good luck by this time next year you won’t be asking me this question.
QUESTION: Fine. I hope it happens.
AMBASSADOR: You will be asking me this, I know, you will be holding me to this.
QUESTION: Let’s talk about FYROM – Is there’s something new?
AMBASSADOR: Is there anything new? Nothing new that I have to tell you. So, I don’t have any special inside information, negotiations continue. I think that’s good, that’s positive. We, the United states continues to support, as we have in the past, the rapid conclusion of an agreement, that’s mutually acceptable, satisfactory to both sides, and it’s the two sides which determine that, not the United States. We want this to happen quickly, not just ourselves but all in NATO summit leaders, including the Greek leader has agreed that this good and important. The challenge obviously is well known, of finding the solution. We are hopeful discussion will continue, in September a lot of these people will be [inaudible] let’s hope that there continue to be discussions and something happens here in the next coming months. I think it will be important that progress is made here this fall, because if the heads of state and government say we want this to be done quickly and then we go to the NATO ministerial five or six months later and there’s still nothing more than was before that’s not going to be the progress that people had hoped.
I think it’s important for people in Greece to know that the reason we care about this is not because we are taking sides or we have favorites or we have particular results that we want, it’s because we believe for Greece and for your neighbor stability, cooperation, engagement, are all things that are good for your country and your neighbor. We honestly believe that it would be the best thing for the region for this issue to be resolved. My understanding is that it is the desire of the Greek government as well, but obviously, the devil as we say is in the details. And that’s for Greece and your neighbor to work out, it’s not something for the United States to solve for you.
QUESTION: Sorry to ask you this. I know that as a diplomat you have to say the same things.
AMBASSADOR: More of the same
QUESTION: How happy you are about Cyprus?
AMBASSADOR: I am actually very pleased with the developments in Cyprus. Well, before I took this job, and I was preparing for it last September, October, before the elections there and I talked to all the experts in the United States, and they told me and gave me the history and briefed me in detail and in depth on how long this issue has been going on and the current views in Cyprus on this, they were not very optimistic or hopeful and they did not give me much reason to believe that during my tenure here I would see much improvement. That changed dramatically and radically, and so, I think it’s fantastic. Now, should we expect it all to bloom overnight? No, these are going to be tough negotiations, people should have reasonable expectations and they should be hopeful that this progression will continue. I think it will. If you are reading the newspaper every day about Cyprus, and you are following ups and downs, allow there to be downs with ups before you make judgments. I am not going to be commenting on each one of these ups and downs, but the overall direction is fantastic.
QUESTION: What’s your biggest problem with your life in Athens?
AMBASSADOR: I do not have any big problems with my life in Athens. I would say the biggest challenge for diplomats at my embassy in Athens is, I think it’s pretty common, it is traffic. I fortunately live a few blocks from my Embassy, and I am one of the few who don’t have to suffer from this. I do of course when I go to meetings. But I found Athens to be a great city to live in, maybe because people have warned me about things like the size and pollution and other kinds of things. But I am actually not experiencing this; I do not have a sense that this is an issue. I think Athens has done a great job in improving air quality and dealing with a lot of the problems that it is facing. I think it is a very attractive city. And where else can you, there are not that many cities there, some obviously, including in the United States, where in forty minutes you can be at the beach. So you can complain in Athens but you can quickly find in the surrounding areas your relief of living with five million people.
QUESTION: Foreign diplomats have always said good things about Athens and Thessaloniki.
AMBASSADOR: [laughter] I honestly mean that. Partly because I have been given, from hearing other people say about Athens the reputation that it had in the past with regard to pollution, I have found it to be, compared with cities of five million, very good.
QUESTION: I like Athens too, especially when I’m not working.
AMBASSADOR: When you don’t have to work.
QUESTION: Do you feel well accepted? Or do you feel everybody is an enemy?
AMBASSADOR: I actually have been felt truly welcome by the Greek people on a personal basis. I have not felt hostility on a personal basis ever in my seven months here or so. That’s really been a wonderful thing here, to be able to feel that warmth and hospitality and openness. There are a lot of things that Greeks have in common with the Americans. And I think that’s one of them, you are very open, warm, hospitable people. On the political side, obviously, I feel it’s much more challenging between the United States and Greece, but even there I found to be a very healthy mutual respect between our countries and I think often times more is made out of it in the press, than what really exists. And I think there is good strong respect between our two countries, and understanding of each other. So I actually have been very pleased with my initial time here. I feel welcome.
QUESTION: Thank you
AMBASSADOR: Thank you.
Released September 15, 2008