Pyatt: US remains ‘invested’ in Greece’s economic recovery
The United States remain “invested” in Greece’s economic recovery following the debt-hit country’s official exit from the bailout programs, the American ambassador in Athens, Geoffrey Pyatt, said Thursday, while praising Athens for reaching an agreement with Skopje on the longstanding name dispute.
“America remains invested in Greece’s full economic recovery,” Pyatt told a conference held by the Economic Chamber of Greece in Athens. “The US strongly believes that as a NATO ally and a cornerstone of European security, Greece’s fate is linked to the fate of the wider region,” he said.
“The United States will continue to stand by Greece’s side as a steadfast partner in its economic recovery,” Pyatt said, hailing the contribution last year of the so-called Strategic Dialogue meeting in Washington and of the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), where the US was the honored country, for laying the foundation for ever closer ties for the future.
The TIF experience, Pyatt said, demonstrated the “enormous potential” of Greece not only as a single market of 11 million people, but as a gateway to the wider Balkans region.
“In this regard I applaud Greece for stepping up to guide the future of this region, for its admirable foresight in reaching the Prespes agreement, and for helping to move all of Greece’s neighbors towards European institutions and our shared Euro-Atlantic community,” the top US diplomat in Athens said.
“ I assert that this development will be good for Greece and the wider region,” he said.
Pyatt said that a delegation of American companies will in the coming months travel to Northern Macedonia from Greece “to highlight and unlock new opportunities.”
