Tough but sensitive statesman remembered
The memory that former foreign minister Petros Molyviatis chooses as the most intense moment he experienced in his years by the side of late statesman Constantine Karamanlis is the following: «When we heard from Brussels that the negotiations for our accession to the European Economic Community had been concluded successfully, it was one of the few times that the premier was unable to hide his emotions. ‘At last,’ he whispered, and wiped his eyes.» Molyviatis, one of the late president’s closest colleagues, met Karamanlis in 1959 and collaborated with him until 1998 – so he is one of the most appropriate people to talk about the former president on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. In this interview with Kathimerini, he refers not only to the achievements of a full political career, but also to the man himself. «He was a surprisingly sensitive person. But he tried to hide it because he was afraid that his sensitivity might be interpreted as weakness,» says Molyviatis, who notes that the only major goal of Karamanlis that was not achieved was the normalization of Greek-Turkish relations.
