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By Rebecca Clancy, and agencies
2:44PM GMT 19 Feb 2013
Francois Hollande has pressed his pro-growth agenda in a visit to Greece, saying austerity alone is not enough to achieve fiscal reform, while urging French companies to invest in the debt-laden country.
French Leader Francois Hollande said he expected French companies to return to Greece and bid for state firms being sold as part of the country's multi-billion euro privatisation plan during a visit to Greece to meet prime minister Antonis Samaras. Photo: THANASSIS STAVRAKIS/AFP/Getty Images
In the first visit of a French leader to Athens since the euro debt crisis began there more than three years ago, Mr Hollande offered to help the bailed-out country with privatisations, tourism and a public sector overhaul.
"We must make sure that growth and jobs come back in Greece," Mr Hollande said.
"I didn't come to sell weapons ... we have to show the Greeks solidarity, support and also confidence that will allow growth to come back.
Mr Hollande, a Socialist who won last May’s election emphasizing growth over austerity, repeated his commitment to keeping Greece in the 17-nation euro area and pressed Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to forge ahead with the revamp of his nation’s economy.
"Greece should make efforts, it should meet its commitments, but its efforts have been considerable," Mr Hollande said.
"No people in Europe have undergone such a test, so we must be at the side of Greece", he added.
The French leader said he expected French companies to return to Greece and bid for state firms being sold as part of the country's multi-billion euro privatisation plan.
The two leaders also signed an agreement to boost the flow of French tourists to Greece. Tourism is the country's biggest money spinner but French visitors were less than 7pc of total arrivals last year, half as many as from Germany.
Athens, whose international lenders unlocked bailout aid in December after a six-month stalemate, hopes Mr Hollande's one-day visit will spur badly-needed investments to ease record-high unemployment.
Mr Samaras praised Paris for having helped Greece stay in the euro zone, despite its debt crisis.
"France has given us vital support over the past few months to stay in Europe and is supporting us today to exit the crisis," he said.
The timing of Hollande's visit coincided with a journalists strike in the country, which left the event without coverage in the Greek media, infuriating the government.
The journalists' 24-hour walkout, staged to protest austerity measures and income cuts, pulled all news broadcasts off the air and left news websites without updates. Newspapers will not publish Wednesday editions.
The move angered the government, which accused the main opposition Syriza party of deliberately instigating the strike to "cause a news blackout of the visit of French President Francois Hollande."
Journalists' unions have been protesting firings and pension and benefit cuts among other issues. Hundreds of journalists in the private sector frequently go unpaid for months at a time.
Greece's economy has shrunk by about 20pc since the recession began in 2008, with its downturn exacerbated by fiscal austerity demanded by its international lenders to shore up public finances and attain a primary budget surplus in 2013. Unemployment in the debt-laden country hit a euro zone record 27pc in November.
Mr Hollande's visit contrasted with that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in October for the absence of protests against austerity imposed in return for European bailouts.
Tens of thousands gathered at the barricades of a massive police operation to protect the German Chancellor as she met with Greek leaders who are searching for a new package of budget cuts to secure bail-out funds largely underwritten by the German taxpayer.