Athanasios Orphanides Quotes

I can confirm that Poland should become a eurozone country, and not just because of the treaties that have been signed, but because I consider it of strategic interest both for Poland and the E.U.

Indeed, the creators of the euro envisioned it as an instrument to promote political union.

The euro is not a currency. It is a political weapon to force countries to implement the policies decided by the E.U. and keep them on a leash.

I think there are going to be more countries joining the euro.

The 1992 crisis proved that the existing system was unstable. Not moving forward to the euro would have set up Europe for even more disruptive crises.

Some countries that are close to Europe that already hold Deutschemarks, clearly would automatically hold euros, those are countries in Eastern Europe mainly, a few countries in Africa.

The euro is a vital issue for Germany. There is no other country that derives as much benefit from the common domestic market and the monetary union as Germany.

It's political glue inside Europe to keep it together - the euro is the best thing going for it since the creation of the common market.

The euro area must not be treated as an 'opt out' from the European Union.

In reality, the euro is a currency created by Germany for Germany. It’s a suit that only fits Germany.

A country outside the euro zone cannot have a veto over countries in the euro zone.

I am in favour of a different Europe, where each state can adopt its fiscal and monetary system.

Europe is one thing. The euro is something else.

We have no intention of leaving the euro. In no way will we experiment with the future of our country.

It is obvious that the monetary union among 17 very different European countries does not work. As an economist, I know that the Eurozone is not an optimum currency area, as defined in economic theory.

After choosing monetary union, further political union and workable governance in Europe was always going to be necessary.

This much is true: When we created the euro, it wasn't possible to create a political union along with it. People weren't ready for that. But since then, they've grown more willing to go in that direction. It's a process, one that is sometimes laborious and sometimes slow. But it's important to keep the populations involved.

We have the EURO as a currency, which means a lot. It has not just stabilized the situation in Kosovo politically and economically, but also facilitated the direct contact that we have with Europe.

I was sure we would never see the adoption of the Euro. Countries giving up their currencies for a common tender was, it seemed to me, completely out of tune with currency being a carrier of people's cultural identity, celebrating national heroes and events, as it had been for hundreds of years.

Our position in Europe is not negotiable. The Greek people will defend it by all means. But participation in the euro involves rules and obligations, which we must consistently meet. Greece belongs to Europe and Europe cannot be envisaged without Greece.

The designs of the paper euros, introduced in 2002, proclaim a utopian aspiration. Gone are the colorful bills of particular nations, featuring pictures of national heroes of statecraft, culture and the arts, pictures celebrating unique national narratives. With the euro, 16 nations have said goodbye to all that.

The euro currency both presupposes and promotes a fiction - that 'Europe' has somehow become, against the wishes of most Europeans, a political rather than a merely geographic expression.

Peace in Europe can only come through union in one economic system. The United States of Europe are overdue.

The Euro was a terrible mistake, one that is very difficult to unmake.

At the time of the formation of the euro, I would say most American economists said that's not a good idea; that's not a currency area that makes sense. And the answer from Europe was, 'How is Missouri and Mississippi a currency area?' But the flaw in that was not recognizing the importance of mobility.