Greek Ambassador to Serbia Dimosthenis Stoidis is of the opinion that there is no danger that a new wave of crisis and the economic situation in the eurozone might seriously threaten the Greek firms' investments and its banks' business dealings in Serbia.

As far as I know, there is no announcement about the withdrawal of any Greeek investment. On the contrary, I know that the prospects for further investments are being considered, Stoidis said in an interview to the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti.

He said that in Greece, the banking sector is not the primary cause of the crisis and that the Greek banks are even in a better situation, since they are running their businesses in somewhat different economic circumstances, according to the local regulations.

"Of course, there are problems, but during the talks with bank officials, I received assurances that they will explore all the possible options before they decide to implement necessary adjustments," he said.

When asked about the Greek plans regarding the Corridor 10 for which Greece had earmarked EUR 100 million, Stoidis said that his country will not give up on this project.

"I know that your government is attaching a great importance to infrastructure projects. In the past, Greece pledged to allocate EUR 100 million to the southern section. A part of that sum has already been given for the project despite the crisis. The intention is to secure the rest for the works to be continued", the Greek ambassador said.

Over 200 Greek companies, including five banks, are doing their businesses in Serbia. They hire more than 20, 000 people. Moreover, the Greek companies have invested around EUR 2.4 billion in Serbia over the last decade, he noted.

Until now, our country has donated around EUR 35 million to various bilateral projects. Assistance, which may not be a great one, has been arriving despite the crisis in Greece, Stoidis underlined.

No change in policy towards Serbia

Greek Ambassador to Serbia Dimosthenis Stoidis has stated that the new Greek government will maintain the principled stance towards Serbia, based on respect for the international law, and stressed that Greece strongly backs the dialogue with Pristina.

"Kosovo is a rather delicate issue.We strongly support the dialogue with Pristina and hope that it will yield results, which would lead to reconciliation in the region and improvement of the standard of living", Stoidis said in an interview for the Belgrade-based daily Vecernje Novosti.

Underlining that Greece has been firmly backing Serbia's EU integration, he voiced expectation that Serbia will be granted the candidate status on December 9.

Asked whether Serbia will be presented with an open condition to recognize Kosovo so as to become an EU member state, Stoidis said that the EU wants to make sure that new member states will not bring their outstanding issues to the Union, and added that the talks between Serbia and the EU might last for several years.

When the time comes, it is expected that the question will be asked whether, in the meantime, the Kosovo issue has been resolved. However, that moment of truth will not come today or tomorrow, but when a decision on Serbia's entry is about to be delivered, Stoidis said.