Monday, September 21, 2020, 4:00 p.m.

Καλησπέρα, good afternoon, everybody.  Let me say, first of all, thank you to the workers and management of Elefsina Shipyard for welcoming us here today.  I’m really honored to be here this afternoon with Minister Georgiadis, Minister Papathanassis, but most importantly, with a large piece of Washington: with Adam Boehler, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Development Finance Corporation.

But Adam didn’t come alone.  He came with the leadership of our Export-Import Bank, our Agency for International Development, our National Security Council, our Departments of Energy and Commerce.  What this broad and deep delegation reflects is the United States’ commitment to be a strong partner of Greece in helping to grow the economy, but also continuing to develop Greece’s role as a pillar of stability in a strategically complicated region, a country which is an essential ally of the United States in fostering energy security and energy diversification, and a country which is poised to recapture its historic role as a maritime superpower.

As we were coming up from Piraeus this afternoon, my friend Nikos Vernikos was pointing out to everybody the upcoming anniversary of the Battle of Salamis, which is a reminder of the 2,500 years of maritime history that Greece has.  This shipyard is an important reflection of that history, but also an illustration of the fantastic potential that Greece has with Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ leadership to unlock that history and to deepen and reinforce what is already a very strong and important alliance with the United States of America.

So thank you, Adam, and thank you to your whole team.  I know it’s been a very fast visit.  We had a superb meeting with the Prime Minister, and I want to especially thank Minister Georgiadis and Minister Papathanassis for helping to make that possible.  We heard a very clear message from Prime Minister Mitsotakis in terms of his commitment to the U.S.-Greece relationship and his focus on the kind of market reforms that are going to drive Greece forward.  Ευχαριστώ πολύ.