Clinton expresses strong support for Greece

(ANA-MPA) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday expressed the U.S. government's strong support for the efforts of the Greek people and the Greek government to overcome the debt crisis, during a press conference following her meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis.

Their meeting was the first in a round of scheduled meetings between Clinton and Greece's leadership during her visit to Athens, where she arrived late on Saturday from neighbouring Turkey after attending a meeting of the Contact Group for Libya.

Clinton underlined that the government of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou had faced tough decisions and expressed Washington's support for his determination to carry out reforms.

Doing nothing would have far worse consequences than the current difficulties, she added, expressing her faith in the strength of the Greek people.

Lambrinidis stressed that the Greece of today bore no relation to the Greece of the past and he emphasised the need for European solidarity in order to overcome the crisis.

(ANA-MPA) During one-on-one talks lasting half an hour, followed by a meeting between Greek and U.S. delegations, Clinton and Lambrinidis discussed the economic crisis and issues of foreign policy, focusing mainly on the situation in Libya, the Middle East, the western Balkans, the Cyprus issue and Greece's relations with Turkey.

After her meeting with Lambrinidis, the U.S. Secretary of State attended a working dinner with the prime minister at his offices.

Arriving for the dinner, she conveyed her family's warm regards to Papandreou and, on a lighter note in response to questions posed by a U.S. journalist, expressed her excitement that the U.S. women's soccer team will be playing in the World Cup final against Japan on Sunday night.

She said that U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden and her own daughter Chelsea would be in Frankfurt to watch the game and support the U.S. team, while she would be watching the game from Athens.

Clinton is also scheduled to hold meetings with Greek President Karolos Papoulias and Greece's finance minister Evangelos Venizelos. A meeting between Clinton and Greece's main opposition New Democracy party leader Antonis Samaras is scheduled to take place on Monday. (ANA-MPA)