August 20, 1959
GREECE-OEEC-EEC: Negotiations being conducted over the past two years within the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) to set up an economic entity that would include all OEEC members are set out in a 205-page white paper jointly published in English by the ministries for Coordination and Foreign Affairs to inform international public opinion of Greece’s position on this issue. The paper was released to the press yesterday. Minister for Coordination Aristides Protopapadakis said that for political and particularly for economic reasons, it was not in Greece’s interest to be excluded from the alliances being formed by countries that had traditionally been markets for its products, as well as developing countries. Outlining the extent of Greece’s economic dependence on exports to the OEEC countries, particularly those comprising the newly formed Common Market, he added that the latter had granted a request by Greece to resume cooperation. He said the purpose of the white paper was to show that Greece has always supported the idea of a universal European economic union and therefore any criticism of Greece over its current stance and its decision to work with the Common Market is groundless.
