ATHENS, Greece — Greek Vice President and Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis told Breitbart News exclusively that President Donald Trump’s trade actions against the Chinese Communist Party, while difficult for much of the rest of the world, are important to help the United States lead the West into a new era of prosperity.
“I believe in the West,” Georgiadis said in an exclusive interview last week in his office here. “The West will not survive without a strong United States. The United States is the natural leader of the West. So, for me as a politician that believes in the West, a strong United States is a strong West. A weak United States is a weak West. I hope he will succeed.”
Georgiadis also said that while tariffs are a “very difficult decision” for all sides, Trump is trying to rebalance the U.S. economy after decades of decline. He said the weaknesses the West faces in its supply chain were exposed during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Tariffs are a very difficult decision, and I’m sure they’re a very difficult decision also for President Trump and for Europe and for everybody,” Georgiadis said. “But I have knowledge that the American deficit was huge. And as the American economy was going, it had a lot of problems. So he had to take some radical decisions. I will give an example. During the pandemic crisis in Europe we realized that in very critical production lines of our industry that all of our production lines were in Asia. I will mention as an example pharmaceuticals. So as part of the pandemic, a big discussion started in the European Union that we have to find our own resources because in a difficult time we did not have a single factory that was producing the critical elements for producing medicines in Europe. The same thing happened with the United States. All big industries after the 80s traveled abroad. So I think that the tariff decision of President Trump is a way to try to rebirth American industry and I can understand that this is a difficult decision but necessary for an American president.”
Georgiadis also told Breitbart News that Trump’s comeback victory in the United States to win back the White House last year was “amazing.” Georgiadis, who is currently the Health Minister of Greece and also the Vice President of the governing New Democracy Party in Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government here, has served in a number of key roles during Mitsotakis’s administration dating back to 2019.
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“First of all I have to say as a politician that this was a unique victory in political history,” Georgiadis said. “The way he came back is something that politicians worldwide will try to study and take lessons from it. Of course he made a very brave campaign in a very difficult environment with most of the media against him, a lot of polls that weren’t really very accurate, and at the end he managed to take a very big victory. It’s amazing, I’m saying as a politician to a politician. I try never to interfere in the internal politics of our allies especially the United States but of course I would be a Republican. Everybody knows this is where I stand. So we believe that as in his first term, Greece and the United States have an excellent relationship. You know big strategic partnerships between Greece and the United States started during President Trump’s first term in the White House. I had the honor as Minister of Finance and Development to sign a very important deal at that time with then-Secretary Pompeo. We managed to attract a lot of U.S. investments in Greece after that agreement. We believe in his second term, we will have an even better relationship because Greece and the United States were always allies, were always friends, and we’re anxious to do things with President Trump and his government.”
Greece has two vice presidents helping lead its governing party, New Democracy. The other, Kostis Hatzidakis, is the deputy prime minister.
Asked during his interview with Breitbart News at the Greek Health Ministry offices last week if he had a specific message for President Trump back in the Untied States, Georgiadis said while Mitsotakis will provide the government’s official message to the United States he personally believes the United States is the leader of the West and that he is rooting for Trump.
“The message will come from Prime Minister Mitsotakis—he always gives the message for our country.” Georgiadis said. “On a personal basis, I want to tell to Mr. Trump that we perceive the United States as the leader of the West. We trust the United States for this leadership.”
Mitsotakis of course sat with Breitbart News in Athens in his office at Maximos Mansion and said he believes the United States and European Union would be able to reach a trade deal soon. Mitsotakis’s interview has dominated Greek and international press since Breitbart News published it, because Trump himself responded to it at the White House praising Mitsotakis and saying he agrees that a deal can be reached. In the aftermath of the interview, Trump paused the new tariffs on all nations except China for 90 days and the European Union leader Ursula von der Leyen has echoed Mitsotakis’s commentary saying she too believes a new trade agreement can be reached with Trump.
Georgiadis echoed this sentiment in his comments to Breitbart News, saying he is sure that the two sides can reach a deal.
“I’m totally sure that Greece as a country and our prime minister will do their best to find a way out for the best and most reasonable partnership for the European Union and the United States of America,” Georgiadis said. “The European Union and the United States of America are natural allies. The West is the European Union and the United States of America so beyond the agreements, good partners can sometimes have disagreements, at the end we are going to reach a good deal for both parties. I’m totally confident of that and I’m confident in President Trump that in the end he will reach this deal.”
Georgiadis, in his interview with Breitbart News, said he believes that the United States and Greece can deepen already strong economic ties during Trump’s second term in the White House.
“There is a big space of common investment between Greece and the United States and a potential for a lot more of that,” Georgiadis said. “There is a lot with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Google, and others in the tech industry. But I think there is a lot of potential also in the defense industry like shipyards. We have already a big American investment in Greek shipyards through ONEX. I’m telling you again, in this transforming world, finding ways to build strong ties between the key countries of the West is very important. The United States is the leader of the West, but Greece is a big symbol of the West in a very sensitive region. It is a symbol because democracy was born here, and the key elements of the West were born here. But at the same time we are the strategic ally of the United States in the eastern Mediterranean. At this time, the eastern Mediterranean is a very sensitive part of the world because of what’s happening to the Middle East, what’s happening to Ukraine, what’s happening in northern Africa. Greece now is a key role-player in this area and President Trump has to know we are a reliable partner for the United States of America.”
Georgiadis described the IMEEC Corridor—which stands for India-Middle East-Europe-Economic-Corridor—as a Western-led answer to the Chinese Community Party’s Belt and Road Initiative. The deal strings together India through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, into Cyprus then Greece then western Europe before heading on to the United States.
“We have to have an answer because you see China build in it a very serious way their own corridors in recent years,” Georgiadis said. “In some ways, the West was left behind. We have to find answers and we have to find the answer as fast as possible.”
One of the key planks for IMEEC’s success is Saudi Arabia-Israel relations. Saudi Arabia has not yet joined the Abraham Accords, and Georgiadis told Breitbart News that Mitsotakis has worked to build ties with the Saudi government to help accomplish this broader economic connectivity.
“The Mitsotakis government, and the prime minister himself throughout his first term through now, have built a very strong relationship with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Georgiadis said. “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the key country along this corridor that will bring commerce from India to Europe and from Europe to North America in a very fast manner. Yes, this is something we have to build as fast as possible.”
Georgiadis also said he believes that the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel was motivated by an effort to derail Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords.
“I really believe that the terrorist attack Hamas did on October 7 of 2023, one of the biggest targets was to sabotage the Abraham agreement,” Georgiadis said. “We in Greece support Israel 100 percent. Israel is our strategic partner in this area. The safety of Israel is the safety of Greece. The safety of Israel will be much stronger after these agreements. It’s very important for us all to work together to see these agreements become a reality and having a real good relationship between Israel, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the other Arab countries that want to have an agreement and be part of this deal. I think this is all very important and we support them 100 percent in Greece. I support them very strongly.”
All that being said, Georgiadis said he is confident the Saudis will return to the table eventually with the Israelis.
“I’m totally sure they will come back,” Georgiadis said. “The leadership of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also a very and efficient leadership. The Crown Prince is a leader with a big vision for his country. The 2030 vision is a unique vision. That shows a leader that really understands the interests of his country and the region. I trust that he will find a way to make this agreement go forward.”
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