a euro area member state, and greece is a euro area member state, talk of restructuring cannot become a self - fulfilling prophecy in the same sense that could have been the case for other countries that are not part of the european union. the reason for that is very simple ; in the european union a member state can count on political support and solidarity from other member states. it would take a political decision against supporting a member state in need in order to force a restructuring in the sense you describe. so in my view, to the extent the greek government continues to implement the programme of structural reforms that it is implementing right now, and to the extent that it recognises that a restructuring would be undesirable and unnecessary, then restructuring can be avoided so long as the greek government enjoys the support of other member states in the european union. under these circumstances the support from other member states is critical. bis central bankers ’ speeches q. greece is expected to go back to the markets next year. do you think this could still happen or do you think there is a need to extend the programme? i think this will be evaluated as time goes by. i have to say that one of the difficulties we are experiencing in markets right now reflects the fact that at a political level, in the european union, we have disappointed market expectations by failing to make sufficient progress towards strengthening euro area governance and towards putting in place a robust crisis management framework. it is a price that we unfortunately have to pay for the delay. this delay is causing uncertainty in markets and this uncertainty is damaging the euro area. q. if the euro area has not come up with a comprehensive plan to handle the crisis, how can it be expected to support greece? as you know, european union governments are currently offering support to greece in the form of loans subject to strict conditionality and i fully expect this support will continue as long as greece continues to implement the structural reforms that are necessary in order to restore healthy fiscal finances. at the same time those reforms will promote growth in greece, which at the end of the day is necessary in order to alleviate the debt burden. q. there seems to be in the general population less and less appetite for continuation of reforms. do you see that as a real problem or will they definitely do what is necessary to get onto a sustainable path? i expect the greek government to live up to its responsibility and continue with the implementation of the reform programme. i do observe frustration in the greek people and frankly i

of the european continent. a small island with a part of it under occupation, thrives thanks to its extroversion and its people, who despite having been put to the test so many times in the past, have never stopped creating, evolving and moving forward. i have no doubt that together with our european partners we will take all the necessary actions to overcome this challenge as well, guided by our common core values and principles. as the great french novelist victor hugo said, " changez vos opinions, gardez vos principes ; changez vos feuilles, gardez intactes vos raciness " " change your opinions, keep to your principles ; change your leaves, keep intact your roots ". here in cyprus we often say that " a captain is proven capable when she is in a storm ". and hence, i consider ourselves lucky since our ecb captain steering us through both the covid and geopolitical storms is christine lagarde, a leader of undoubted capacity and experience, whom i thank again for being with us today and would like to invite her to the podium to share her thoughts with us. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches