To come to Greece for the first time is an emotional experience for any European. To come as a friend, and as Prime Minister of an allied country, to the sort of welcome which I have received is doubly so. I am grateful to you, Mr. George RallisPrime Minister, to your Government and to the Greek people for your hospitality and friendship. Anglo-Greek links
Greek civilisation has been an inspiration to the whole of Europe since classical times. Although I am coming to your country for the first time I feel that I am coming to a country I know well. And I am proud that, in return for your great gifts to us, my countrymen have made no mean contribution to the establishment of the modern Greek nation. The Philhellenes of the War of Independence—I need only mention Byron—were the forerunners of those who fought alongside the Greek people in the mountains in the last war.
We have much in common. We are both of us outward looking nations and trading nations. We understand, both of us, the sea and ships. The influence of each country's culture on the other has been enormous. We in Britain have always been drawn by the almost magnetic attraction of Greece. I am proud that a number of my compatriots are honoured by the rare privilege for a foreigner of membership of the Greek Academy. There is a lively and growing interest in contemporary Greece. The Nobel Prizes won by two of your great poets—one of them, the late George Seferis, a distinguished Ambassador in London—reminds us that the lyric genius of Ancient Greece survives.
But the affinity is not confined to cultural circles. It is being recognised by an ever wider cross section of both nations. More and more of our young people are realising, through personal experience and friendship, that Greece is not just the Athens of Pericles any more than Britain is the Britain of Dickens. This is one of the most beneficial aspects of tourism and I welcome it.
Greece's progress in the six difficult years following the restoration of democracy in its birthplace have therefore been followed with real feeling and admiration by us in Britain. Your own role, Prime Minister, in a series of key offices culminating in your recent appointment as Prime Minister has been crucial. You have shown how deep and strong is your attachment to that ideal which for all of us here is the cardinal ideal—in your language ‘eleftheria’; in mine liberty.
Greek Accession to the European Community.
It is precisely because we support the strengthening and enriching of a Europe of free and democratic countries, whose founding principle must be liberty, that we supported Greek accession to the European Community from the beginning. We welcome with enthusiasm your joining us as a full member on the 1st of January. It was fitting that my country should have been the first to ratify your Treaty of Accession. But the credit is not, of course, ours. It belongs to you and your colleagues who took the decision under the leadership of President Karamanlis to apply for membership: welcoming not only the economic but also the political implications. [end p1]
I believe, Mr. Prime Minister, that you share my strong conviction that, in the dangerous world in which we live today, we can best protect our own most vital interests by co-operation among the European democracies. But the day of the great European nation state is not over.
We shall each continue to make a distinctive contribution to the civilisation of the world. But in an age of superpowers and superweapons, of growing pressure on the world's resources of food, energy, and essential raw materials at a time when our democratic system and our age-old European civilisation are increasingly threatened and derided by those who know the benefits of neither—at such a time and in such a world it is no longer possible to stand on one's own. That is why in the European Community we have resolved, in the words of the Treaty of Rome, to pool our resources “to preserve and strengthen peace and liberty” , and “to ensure economic and social progress by common action” . The European Community.
The European Community represents a daring attempt to construct a new kind of political institution based on the fundamental principles of democratic liberty and economic solidarity. The Community launched more than twenty years ago has like all living organisms shown itself able to adapt to survive and to prosper. The Community of Six was first enlarged to include Britain, a country without whose traditions, skills and experience no enterprise could truly call itself ‘European’, together with Denmark and Ireland. The Community will soon benefit from the unique contribution of Greece to our common civilisation. Europe and the World.
As with many families, the Community's way of settling its affairs tends to be argumentative. As successive crises paralyse Brussels, the pessimists say the Community has lost its way and is about to collapse. Thus it was in the turbulent 1960s. Thus it was in the 1970s. Thus I am sure it will remain.
The outside world is under no illusion. They know that the Community is by far the most important trading bloc in the world. Already it has agreements with countries in every continent; and the list of candidates for new agreements is growing. Through its aid and trade policies it has a major role in helping the developing world. And through the machinery of political co-operation it is active in East-West relations and in the Middle East, and beyond. Inside the Community we sometimes complain that Europe has no foreign policy.
Nevertheless Europe's voice in the world is heard more clearly by others than by members of the Community themselves. We are unduly conscious of the differences of view between us. Others see the common positions which emerge. We notice the variety and divergence. Others see the similarity of perspective and the interests that unite us. Sharing those interests, you will be strengthening our common voice as well as bringing new ideas which result from your position in the Balkans and your particular perspective on the problems of the Middle East. I have no doubt that an authoritative and influential voice is about to be added to our deliberations in the European Council. [end p2] Defence.
Our common interests are more than ever in need of resolute and effective defence. The world is as unsettled and as dangerous a place as it has ever been at any time since 1945. We see a power—the Soviet Union—which, whatever may be our analysis of Soviet motives and intentions, has decided to use its overwhelming military force to subjugate a small neighbour—Afghanistan. We see persistent aggression in South East Asia, dangerous instability in Iran, and continuing confrontation in the Middle East. Let me emphasise my hope that the Polish people will be left to determine their own destiny.
All these problems affect our interests and call for a European response. They call also for a wider Western response, individually and together in the European Community we must make our influence felt. And, if peace itself is to be preserved, we need an effective defensive alliance. It exists. In NATO we have the framework within which each of us can plan his defence and together meet the challenge we face. Our future security depends on the continued good health of the North Atlantic Alliance.
If Western Europe, so often the scene of conflict in the past, looks today like a haven of peace in a troubled world, it is because of the security and strength which the Western democracies have found in NATO. If we remain united, we shall remain free and at peace.
So it is all the more disturbing to friends of Greece that problems remain unsolved which weaken the cohesion of the Alliance at its southern flank. It is of the highest importance that Greece returns soon to the military structure of NATO. We all want you back in—urgently. A solution is essential, both for Greece's sake and for that of the rest of us in the Alliance.
And let me add this. Your determination that your armed forces should be equipped with modern, effective armaments must be saluted in a world in which the Soviet Union's massive military strength is a visible menace to the balance of forces between east and west. I welcome that determination. I firmly believe that Britain has an important part to play in its realisation—both in supplying equipment and by encouraging closer co-operation between our armed forces and yours.
Before I turn to other matters, it is right that I should mention Cyprus—an issue that has both united and divided us in the past. We, like you, have a keen and direct interest in the stability of the Eastern Mediterranean. I know that you will welcome, as I do, the resumption of the intercommunal talks in Nicosia. It is only if both communities can find a way of living together that harmony can be restored to that unhappy island.
Like you also, we have for long been acutely concerned by the economic and political problems of our common ally, Turkey. It is my hope that the recent dramatic changes will enable order and stability to be restored and the promise of a full return to democracy to be honoured. Those sincerely trying to achieve this have our understanding. A stable, prosperous and democratic Turkey is in the interests of us all. [end p3] Trade and Commerce.
Prime Minister, it may be that, until recent years, we in Britain have not been sufficiently aware of Greece as a modern, expanding market economy. We are putting that right. We believe that Britain can make a major contribution to your economic development in such fields as energy, transport, electronics, port development, hospitals; and through the provision of financial services and consultancy.
There are opportunities in the other direction too—opportunities for example for your agricultural products. Two of my Cabinet colleagues, Mr. Nott and Mr. Walker, will be coming here soon. Their visits will help to develop these opportunities and promote mutual trade in all areas. Conclusion.
Prime Minister, Greek historians and geographers of the ancient world were among the first, literally, to put Britain on the map of Europe. From the work of Ptolemy of Alexandria, 1800 years ago, came the first reasonably accurate map of Britain: to Strabo writing not long after the Roman invasion, we owe some of our very earliest information about the customs and the characteristics of the British Isles.
He remarks upon the simple, even barbarian, manners of the inhabitants, and upon the inclemency of the British weather. ‘Their climate’, says Strabo, ‘is more rainy than snowy; and on the days of clear sky, fog prevails so long a time that throughout a whole day the sun is to be seen for only three or four hours round about midday.’ As you will know, the British way of life has changed for the better since Strabo wrote; and it is a most welcome surprise to learn that our weather seems to have improved too.
Prime Minister, I am delighted to be here. Thank you for your welcome. We shall meet regularly henceforth, at the European Council; and I very much hope to welcome you to London next year during Britain's Presidency. I look forward to a long and fruitful co-operation, and to the development of ever closer ties of understanding and friendship between the peoples of Britain and Greece.