The Greek people do not deserve comments and recommendations that are not constructive, foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas stressed on Thursday, addressing the 15th Economist Round Table with the Greek Government on the theme "In the aftermath of the global economic crisis: What next?"

In a message addressing the criticism coming from both inside and outside Greece on the efforts of the government and the Greek society to deal with the country's fiscal crisis, Droutsas added that every political force and every political leader in Greece must shoulder their responsibilities and be accountable for their choices.

He also said that Greece is committed to a strict reform effort and is making great efforts to deal with the fiscal crisis, and urged each and every citizen to assume their responsibilities for the country's exit from this situation.

Replying to questions, Droutsas said that beyond the economic crisis, Greece is also facing a crisis of morals which emanates from the political system of the past decades.

When speaking about the political system one should not forget that every citizen of this country is part of that system, the foreign minister said, and urged everyone's contribution to overcoming the crisis. "We all have the obligation, but also the opportunity today, to contribute in a substantial and responsible way to overcoming the crisis," he said.

Asked whether a reduction in the number of Greek MPs (currently 300) would be a message to the Greek people in the present difficult fiscal conjuncture, Droutsas responded that every symbolic move, in such difficult times, could help, but would not solve the problem.

"We need to look in-depth at the political and social system that has developed in Greece in the past decades, the recent decades," he said, adding that "we need to look at the politics-economy and politics-mass media relations. These are visible problems for which the time has come for all the political forces and each and every citizen individually to deal with responsibly and honestly".