A. TSIPRAS: Good afternoon. Today's event concerns the traditional cutting of the New Year’s cake, albeit somewhat late, as we are approaching the end of February. However, no one should complain, as the work recently completed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its highly important contribution towards upgrading the role of Greece on the world stage justifies this short delay, as we could not be cutting cakes when one of the most important and historic agreements to brand the foreign policy of our country was underway.So, this short delay is justified, but on the occasion of my participation in this time-honoured custom, I would like to address everyone present, having served, even for this specific period of time, as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In truth, I did not have the honour and opportunity to meet and talk with all of you, but I did have the honour and opportunity to speak, receive advice from and capitalise on the knowledge of many of you. And this enabled me to realise not only the importance of the people staffing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also the decisive role played by the diplomats and Ministry staff in shaping our foreign policy. This is because we politicians certainly have to make political decisions based on and guided by what we believe to be in the interest of our homeland, but in order to make the right decisions, we must have appropriate knowledge of all the facts — and this, in my view, is an invaluable task.It is a task carried out tirelessly by all of you, regardless of who is in government, because you are working in service of patriotic, national interests. And I must say with absolute honesty that I have found you to be serving these interests in the best possible way. Oftentimes not under the best conditions, but in the best possible way, with patriotism and selflessness.In all critical matters prior to the Prespa Agreement that I handled while I held this portfolio, always in absolute cooperation with the then Alternate Minister, Mr Katrougalos, and the two Deputy Ministers, Mr Bolaris and Mr Quick, I had the opportunity to hold meetings, exchange views and ask advice on all critical matters: Greek-Turkish relations, energy, Balkan issues, all critical matters facing our foreign policy and, of course, European affairs, as our country plays a key role on the European stage.With these thoughts, I would like to thank you for this monumental experience and would like to assure you that with the upgrading of the Alternate Minister and the addition of the new Alternate Minister, Mrs Anagnostopoulou, we are able to move forward, continuing an effort that began about four years ago with the presence of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kotzias, and my own continual preoccupation as Prime Minister with foreign policy issues.With these thoughts, I would like to express my warm thanks for this experience. You have my warm thanks for your contribution, particularly to the historic Prespa Agreement. You have my warm thanks for working every day to produce policy and supply the political leadership with knowledge — an invaluable contribution to our common effort to drive the country one step forward, to lift the country one step higher in the eyes of the international community.My warm thanks. I wish you a pleasant evening and a happy new year.G. KATROUGALOS: I would like to thank the Prime Minister for the honour he bestowed upon our Ministry. On behalf of all of you, I would like tell him how proud we all are that he held the reins of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a period of time, in a substantial way. As he himself stated, he will continue to guide our foreign policy, as he did this entire time, and this is of course not unrelated to the fact, that because of his direct involvement in issues of foreign policy, never before has our country enjoyed such an upgraded international standing, and not just as a result of the Prespa Agreement. Let me wish everyone a Happy New Year. Now is not an instance of a handover-receipt ceremony. I think that it is in the Prime Minister’s fate to hand over going forward, and to receive for himself. It is a handover of pieces of New Year’s cake.Let me just welcome Sia, who had once before been at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a period of time, and let me tell you that all of us, Terence, Markos, and I, Sia will continue down the same path, and we shall save a piece of cake for Nikos Kotzias who is now in Cyprus. Happy New Year to everybody.S. ANAGNOSTOPOULOU: Hello from me too. Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Ministers, Secretary Generals, ladies and gentlemen MPs who have come to attend, ladies and gentlemen Ambassadors, all senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I shall express my joy and the honour that the Prime Minister has bestowed upon me in allowing me to take over during a period of significant upgrading of the country’s foreign policy.Since I have been here in the past, I don’t wish to delay you. I am certain about the collaboration we shall have during a critical period for European issues. Happy New Year, and may everybody stay strong.
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