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Greece has got something like 1,400 islands. There is so much of Greece you can't know even if you're Greek. It's sprinkled out all around the edge of the Aegean, all over the place. It's already a secret place wherever you go, even if it's somewhere huge like Athens or Corinth. The place enchanted me.

What, ultimately, is Greece if it is not the people who live in this country? It's not the mountains and the plains.

If we were the problem, it would be very convenient - kick Greece out, everything's fine. What would happen to Spain, what about Portugal, what about Italy, what about the whole of the euro zone? We need more cooperation and less simplification and prejudice.

The culture of Greece is not the same as the culture of Germany, and to fuse them into a single unit is extremely difficult.

I am personally convinced - and I think the Greek people share this belief in a fundamental way - that we can achieve fiscal consolidation more effectively and we can restore competitiveness in a more fundamental and permanent way within the euro area than outside.

We must break up the eurozone. We must set those Mediterranean countries free.

The vast majority of Greeks accept the need for reform and want to keep our country inside the euro zone.

Greece needs to work on a cleaner image. It's a big problem, as they have this reputation of being so corrupt.

Tomorrow a new era starts for Greece.

Dealing with Greece's problems will be more difficult if Greece is not a member of the eurozone.