BACKGROUND PRESS CALL
BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
ON THE VISIT OF PRIME MINISTER MITSOTAKIS OF GREECE
Via Telephone
1:47 P.M. EST
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Good morning. Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman. I just want to thank everyone for being here today. This call is a background briefing for Prime Minister Mitsotakis's visit with President Trump tomorrow. Just up front, the rules are: This briefing is on background with attribution to a senior administration official, and there will be an embargo on the contents of this call until the call is completed.
Here is the run of show for today: Our first speaker will be [senior administration official]. Our second speaker will be [senior administration official]. After he has completed his remarks, we will open up for a few questions.
So, with that, over to you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Great. Thanks. And thank you for everyone on the line for tuning in. This is a historic moment for U.S.-Greek relations. I know my colleague, who has come to join us from Athens, will have more to say on this subject in a minute, but we are at a high-water mark. The relationship between our two countries has perhaps never been better. Let me offer you some examples.
Greece has long been a pillar of stability and prudence in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean. This is even more valuable now when they are in the midst of profound changes since the end of the Cold War. Greeks' example in building its democracy and sustaining its democracy have been critical symbols and offer lessons learned for neighbors in the Balkans and the region.
In security, the recently amended MDCA demonstrates the increasingly close security partnership between our two countries, which will enhance both the security of Greece and indeed NATO throughout Greece’s region.
On energy, the United States also supports Greece’s emergence as a regional energy hub that will expand access and enhance the reliability of critical energy sources for Greece and its neighbors. Reliable access to energy is critical to both economic development and stability in the region.
On the business side and private investment, Greece is
taking a number of impressive steps to improve its business climate, which is the key to attracting American investors and bringing closer together the private sector in both our countries.
The United States and Greece also share a common approach on the security of 5G wireless technology for digital cellular networks, including the importance of using trusted vendors for all parts of 5G and legal and policy frameworks for evaluating suppliers of network equipment.
Let me close by underlining once again the successes that this country has had in improving its relationship with Greece to a point perhaps never reached before in our history.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Great. Thank you. Happy New Year, everybody. Let me just pick up where my colleague left off and just emphasize, from my standpoint, how much of a watershed moment this visit represents. Prime Minister Mitsotakis is advancing a vision of a shared future in which the United States and Greece are steadfast partners working together to tackle issues in a critically important region.
I think especially for the audience outside of Greece, I would emphasize how quickly things are changing in Athens under this government's leadership. Greece is transforming itself from a source of problems, things that people worried about, the financial situation, et cetera, to a source of solutions and, as my colleague said, a pillar of stability that is a critical part of America's wider strategy for the eastern Mediterranean.
I think we all take great satisfaction in the notable progress that we have seen in the U.S.-Greece relationship during the Trump administration to the point where, in a poll last year, 73 percent of Greeks view the United States as their ally of choice, and that is a change for the good.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis, of course, and much of his cabinet have studied and worked in the United States. They understand our country well, and they also understand the importance of the economic opportunities that the United States offers: the strength of our entrepreneurial culture, the power of our capital markets, and the importance of leveraging that as Greece seeks to emerge from the decade of crisis.
A major focus, I expect, for Prime Minister Mitsotakis’s visit over the next three days will be to get the word out that Greece is open for business and to inform American investors about how much the business environment in Greece has changed because of steps like the development bill to reduce bureaucratic red tape that was passed last year, the elimination of capital controls, property tax reductions, and the 1.2 billion euro in tax cuts that were ratified by the Greek parliament last month.
We know that Prime Minister Mitsotakis is thinking big, and American companies are responding, whether it’s firms like Cisco and Pfizer that have already announced plans to expand their footprint in Greece, leveraging the country’s talented labor force and its important geostrategic position, and also the many companies that are taking a new look at Greece, recognizing the strength of its human capital, the importance of Greece’s emerging entrepreneurial and start-up culture.
We’re also very focused on the maritime and infrastructure sectors. We were very pleased by the success that we celebrated last month with the grand reopening of the Neorion, Syros shipyard, led by an American company that has invested 18 million euros. And we are looking for American investors to grow their footprints in port privatizations in Alexandroupoli, in Kavala, and Volos.
We also see increased American investor interest in the renewable energy sectors -- companies like GE, Ameresco, and Invenergy. And, of course, one of the great bright spots of the U.S.-Greece agenda right now, which I’m sure will be part of the discussions at the White House tomorrow, is the progress that we have seen in Greece’s role in advancing European energy diversification: the completion of the TAP pipeline; the inauguration of the IGB pipeline; the commencement of U.S. LNG exports to Greece, a very important example of how we are working together to build European energy security and diversification.
My colleague mentioned already the revised Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement that was signed during Secretary Pompeo’s visit in October. And I would just underline, from an American perspective, what I see every day: the quality of the cooperation between our forces -- whether it’s Souda Bay, or Larissa, or Stefanovikio -- where we're working together as NATO Allies, but also as countries with shared values and shared strategic interests in terms of the wider region of the eastern Mediterranean.
I should also note -- because the Prime Minister has already spoken when he was in Florida -- about the importance of the eastern Mediterranean bill, which was signed into law by President Trump on December 20th and recognizes significant U.S. security interests in the eastern Mediterranean.
And now we have the announcement on January 2 of Greece, Israel, and Cyprus moving ahead with the EastMed pipeline accord. We see this as a natural complement to what Secretary Pompeo set in motion when he traveled to Jerusalem last March for the first U.S., Greece, Israel, Cyprus three-plus-one.
We are committed to continuing to invest in this forum, using it as a mechanism to bolster energy security, but also to promote political stability and economic growth in a region where we are seeing resumed great-power competition and where we want to work as closely as we can with our partners and countries that share our democratic values and interests.
I finally want to note the importance that we place on the fact that Minister of Education Kerameus is part of the Prime Minister’s delegation. We’ve seen fantastic progress on the education front. We’re supporting these initiatives because we believe that these kind of economic partnerships and exchanges not only help to educate future generations, but they help our country and help societies to understand each other better. So this is an investment for the future. I’m confident Prime Minister Mitsotakis, as a Harvard and Stanford graduate, understands that very well.
So I would just conclude by noting that this visit is both a recognition of our enhanced strategic partnership, but also a reflection of the Trump administration’s commitment to build momentum for the future at a very propitious moment in our bilateral relationship, at a moment when the stakes are as high as they’ve been in a long time.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you very much. Okay, Operator, at this time, we are -- can open up for Q&A.
Q Hello?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: We can hear you, sir. Go ahead, please.
Q Hi, yes. My question -- I'm Dimitris (inaudible) from ERT, national television of Greece. And I have a question regarding the tension that we have right now in eastern Mediterranean with Iran after the action by the U.S. against the Iranian general. Do you think that this will be part of the discussion? And do you foresee any role for Greece in this tension? Because, traditionally, Greece have very good relations with the Arab world, and now the strategy is -- a very enhanced strategic relationship with the U.S.
And, as you know, it's very tense right now after what happened in Iran with the Iranian general. And Greece is also a member of the European Union. And by going to (inaudible), you can say that Prime Minister Mitsotakis is the first European leader of -- country member of the European Union that will be in the White House after what happened Iran and during the tension -- the high-rise tension in the region of Greece, the eastern Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Good afternoon. Thank you for the question. This is [senior administration official]. We have been maintaining a large number of very intensive conversations and briefings with all of our NATO Allies, including Greece, about this issue. So I do expect it will come up when the President meets with the Prime Minister. And we will continue the dialogue that we have with our allies to promote the highest degree of our shared security.
Q My name is (inaudible). I'm representing (inaudible) from Athens. I would like to ask you if you are more afraid now, than three or six months ago, for the possibility of a heated incident between Greece and Turkey.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So I never make speculative comments about what's going to happen in Greek-Turkey relationship -- relations. What I would emphasize is the high degree of convergence between Washington and Athens on these issues; our shared interest in seeing that Turkey remains anchored in the West; for the part of -- on the part of Washington, our appreciation for the steps that Prime Minister Mitsotakis and his cabinet have taken to maintain open lines of communication with Ankara.
It's important that the first phone call that the Prime Minister had after his election to office was with President Erdoğan; that Foreign Minister Dendias, the Defense Minister Panagiotopoulos, the General Christodoulou, Minister Koumoutsakos, Minister Chrisochoidis, have all engaged their counterparts. A clear signal from Athens that Greece wishes to have a neighborly, constructive relationship with its big and important Turkish neighbor.
So I think we are -- our focus is a positive one, on encouraging the steps that Greece is taking to manage the relationship, and also our shared interest in working together, as Greece and the United States, to help manage our respective differences with Turkey in a way that does not do damage to our important NATO Alliance.
Q Hello. Thank you for this call. Kristina Anderson, AWPS News. On the education piece, will there be any specific announcements relating to STEM education memorandum of understanding or exchanges that are specific in that area? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So I don’t want to scoot myself on this, but I think, as I said in my opening remarks, it's a reflection of the importance that Prime Minister Mitsotakis places on our education partnership that his minister is part of the delegation. She has been very active working with groups like IIE -- the Institute for International Education in New York -- to encourage American educational institutions to deepen their ties with Greece.
Minister Kerameus has also taken steps to open up the Greek educational market for more students, visitors, exchange visitors, and others from the United States.
So I will leave announcement to the bosses for tomorrow. But I think you will see that this issue features in a prominent and positive way in the work that we're doing together. And, as I said, it's very much from an American policy standpoint. We spend a lot of time worrying about defense cooperation and our energy cooperation, our strategic work, but education and educational partnerships is one of the best long-term investments that we can make.
Q Yes. Hello. This is me?
OPERATOR: We can hear you, sir. Please, go ahead.
Q Yes. Hello, my name is Giorgos Christides; I'm the Greece correspondent for German news magazine, Der Spiegel. My question is this: Should we expect something specific from President Trump concerning what Mitsotakis has said (inaudible) about what he calls "Turkish provocations" in the area, including drilling offshore of Cyprus or the MOU signed with Libya or any of that sort? Because in the Greek press at least, in the analysis we read ahead of the visit, it appears there's not much hope, and President Trump has already decided not to take sides, or at least that he has good relationship with President Erdoğan and he wouldn't like to jeopardize this by making any specific statement which would be very important for the Greek side. If there's any comment on that? Thank you very much.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks for the question. We have been very clear that all parties in the eastern Mediterranean should be able to work together to resolve their differences and should avoid taking steps which would be seen as provocations.
As you have noted, President Trump has an excellent relationship with President Erdoğan, as well as with Prime Minister Mitsotakis, and so we prefer to focus on the things that we have in common and pursuing the common interests we have in security in the eastern Mediterranean region, rather than to look at where there might be provocation. Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay, great. Thank you for your time. It's all we have. Just so again, on the ground rules, this is -- this was on background, attribution to a senior administration official. And the embargo is now lifted. Thank you.
END 2:07 P.M. EST
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