Meeting with Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo | Statements

PRESS OFFICE
PRIME MINISTER
May 13, 2011

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MR. J. STOLTENBERG: I welcome once again to Norway and Oslo, and he is a very good friend of Norway, of Oslo, and we have a very excellent and good relationship for many, many years, and George is really a friend also of mine, and I appreciate very much that.

And he is probably the only prime minister in Europe that is able to understand Norwegian, except for the Nordic. So he is really a close friend of Norway and all Norwegians.

We have an excellent bilateral relationship between Greece and Norway. We work together as partners in NATO, within the EEA, and in many other international areas like the UN and in other international fora.

During our meeting today we focused on Libya, where we are cooperating. Norway has six F-16 fighter planes based in Greece, but we underlined very much that the solution to the problems in Libya are political; they cannot be solved by military means alone. So we are very much supporting all efforts to try to find a political solution to the challenges we are facing in Libya.

We discussed energy. There are different projects regarding pipelines transporting gas from the Caspian Sea into Europe through Greece. The Norwegian is engaged in those projects, and we would very much like to have close cooperation in the energy field, to try to work even closer, both on commercial projects but also on management of the oil and gas sector.

And then we of course discussed the cooperation we have within the EEA, Greece being a member of the European Union, Norway participating in the European Economic Area, and the cooperation we have for instance through the EEA financial mechanism, where we have a lot of projects together, and we hope that we will be able to sign the Memorandum of Understanding for the next period soon, so we can develop new projects.

MR. G. PAPANDREOU: Thank you, Jens. I also would reciprocate: a good friend. Thank you for all your support at a time of need in Greece. The cooperation between Norway and the European Union has allowed for finance for areas such as developing a better policy on asylum and refugees in Greece, which is a major issue for us all.

And of course the cooperation and the feeling of friendship with the Nordic countries and Norway. I always mention – I did in my speech, also my intervention here – that I am Norwegian in many ways, because my father had a Norwegian passport and my son studied in Norway, both in the Oslo University for a year but also in Sund in one of the Volksschule that you have here, which is a very nice idea, and which we want to bring to Greece as an idea, too, for cooperation between Norwegian and Greek youth, and for the regional youth of the Mediterranean.

The energy areas of cooperation, as you mentioned, are the pipelines. And also we will be working with you in some of the research for possible oil or gas reserves on the western coast of Greece, the Ionian Islands. It seems there is some hope there. I am not announcing anything, because we haven’t yet done this research, but I think what you mentioned also, that Norway has very good experience not only in the research area but also in the area of managing possible assets in a way which is good for the public interest.

Finally, of course, we talked about Libya, and I would only stress again our close cooperation. And what you mentioned in the main point, that this is also something which must in the end also have a political solution, and we have tabled a number of ideas and taken a number of initiatives, and I informed you about this, and we will work closely together on this to see how we can move forward and hopefully see a peaceful transition to change in Libya.

COORDINATOR: We have time for two questions.

JOURNALIST: My question is for both the prime ministers. In which subjects did you decide to cooperate? And can you say something more about the project in energy?

MR. J. STOLTENBERG: No, I think, as we both underlined, we have a general excellent cooperation in many areas, for instance climate change where we have negotiations within the UN and so on. So we have cooperation in many, many different areas.

So we have economic close ties, our trade, our tourism, and so on. So there are many, many areas where we cooperate.

But we highlighted especially two areas during our meeting today, and that was energy. And as George mentioned, there are both concrete projects but also government-to-government cooperation, on issues such as management of oil and gas. And hopefully Greece will discover some gas or oil on the west coast of Greece. That will be great. So then we also can be competitors in selling gas into the European markets. So that will be excellent.

So we hope that Greece will be able to find and to develop petroleum in Greece. That’s an area where we can cooperate: transportation and also exploration of energy.

And then Libya. And I think that a main message from George and me is that we have to look for a political solution. There is not a military solution to the conflict in Libya. It was necessary to use military means to stop the attacks on the civilians in Benghazi and other cities, but the final solution is not military. The real solution can only be achieved by political dialogue, and both Greece and Norway very much support that, and we will be staying very close in contact to try to see how we can contribute to a political solution.

MR. G. PAPANDREOU: Well, Jens, I don’t have much else to say, so I think we are in so good, close cooperation that I think whatever the Prime Minister has said expresses me exactly. Thank you very much.

JOURNALIST: This is a question for the Greek Prime Minister. What is the situation in your country right now?

MR. G. PAPANDREOU: I think it is to give a spirit of hope and self-confidence. We are in a time where we have taken very difficult measures, very painful measures, if you like, and many reforms.

At the same time, the reforms take some time to give results and to show the positive of change.

So this is a time when people feel the pain but don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. This is a difficult time, where we need the solidarity and the support of everyone, and of course giving hope, as we are making change. We are changing Greece. Greece is becoming a better country, a more transparent country, a more viable economy.

Tourism will be up this year. We will welcome of course all the Norwegians if they want to come and visit. And we have our experts up.

So there are positive signs. But it’s a difficult time right now, and I think being close to Greece, being supportive of what we are trying to do, is the most difficult task.

Thank you.