Greece assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and it does so with a keen sense of its responsibility to its EU partners and all European citizens. Because the next six months will be a major turning point, not only for Greece itself, as it emerges from a crisis that has exacted many hard sacrifices from the Greek people, but also for the Union as a whole, as we make our final arguments in the debate on the future of our Union, ahead of the May 2014 European elections.

The Greek Presidency will firstly aim to achieve tangible results on pending issues. We are called to tackle the economic and financial crisis, by safeguarding our common currency through the deepening of the EMU and by dealing with recession and unemployment through boosting growth. At the same time, security challenges in our external borders are forcing us to deal comprehensively with immigration issues; both for legitimate asylum seekers and for illegal immigrants.