In his annual New Year message to the Greek people, the President of Democracy Karolos Papoulias expressed his hope that 2014 would be a better year for everyone and took an aggressive stance against corruption, calling for “heads to roll”.
Despite his congratulations to the Ministry of Justice and the judiciary for the efforts in tackling corruption, Mr. Papoulias was critical of the handling of the stock market scandal, where all implicated parties were found innocent and estimated that the case was not over. The President also noted that greater efforts must be address the scandalous cases of bribery.
Regarding the recent terrorist attack against the German ambassador’s residence in Halandri, Mr. Papoulias commented that “those who do these things do not consider Greece; they do not consider our country”.
Mr. Papoulias had a discussion with the Minister of Finances Yannis Stournaras, whom he called a “fighter of optimism”, and relayed the German Finance Minister’s optimism for the progress of the Greek economy. The President showed his support in Mr. Stournaras’ policy and called for “cautious optimism, to avoid disappointment”.
The President also had a brief discussion with the General Secretary of the Communist Party Dimitris Koutsoumpas, SYRIZA president Alexis Tsipras, ANEL leader Panos Kammenos, DIMAR’s Fotis Kouvelis and Fofi Gennimata, who represented the Government Vice President Evangelos Venizelos.
