About George Papandreou: Georgios A. Papandreou is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2009 to 2011.
I have always said I will be in politics to serve as best as I can and it will take me wherever it will take me.
At times of distress, we all like to recall the advice of fathers and mothers. The best advice my father gave me was to keep faith and deep confidence in the potential of the Greek people; nurture the belief that they can do things.
I think there is a heritage which I'm proud of, which is a fight for democracy, a fight for social justice, a fight for freedom. My grandfather went to jail or exile six times in his life, fighting for his principles for democracy, or for his country...
I never thought about becoming a politician. But during the military dictatorship, my grandfather was put in prison six times and my father twice. If my family and my country didn't have this history, I might be a professor somewhere today.
This idea that you're a successful tough guy if you evade taxes and deceive the state has got to change.
We stand united, facing the big responsibility to change our country into a nation of justice, solidarity, humanity and green development.
If Greece had gone through a very normal political life, I may have not been in politics. But just the fact that I lived through huge upheavals and very difficult struggles and polarization and the barbarism of dictatorships - that made me feel that ...
We Greeks want change. We know there are problems in our system. We have great potential but we need to manage our country well. Now that hasn't been done over the last decades. And that is, of course, what we are paying for.
Countries are not like financial markets. Social change cannot be executed as swiftly as credit-default swaps. You cannot sell short on social commitments and practical responsibilities.
We have made major reforms in Greece. When I took over after a landslide victory we had a mandate for change and I knew my major focus would be re-organizing the state.
Already people are saying we do need a change.
First of all, Greece won't go down. We're talking about a country that is capable of making change. Europe will not allow the destabilization of the 27-country euro zone. But if there were no action, then markets would start becoming jittery about ot...
Politics also means educating people. It's important to speak openly with our fellow Greeks, to tell them what our problems are and that we have to change something.
My hope is that we will turn Greece into maybe the most transparent country in the world with everything on the web.
There are certain moments in the history of a nation when the choices made define the decades to come.
Greece's history in the drachma was an up-and-down history, a roller coaster.
People would say you look weak if you're not cursing the opposition and driving around in a big black car while always wearing a tie. Above all, to be 'strong' you're always supposed to be giving orders.
Greece has great strengths, but much of this potential has been wasted. That's because of a wider political system, but also because of a lack of an institutional framework.
We in Europe have great capacities.
We are a country with great potential. We have the political will to make deep changes in a just and equitable way, to put our country back on a development path, to meet the challenges of a new world.
