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"Please pay to the Minister of Finance George Papaconstantinou 310 billion kisses". This was written on the cheque which the children’s Special Olympics team gave the Minister of Finance George Papaconstantinou day before Christmas. The children visited the office of the Minister and sang a Christmas song for health and good luck, as the tradition on the Christian holiday in the country requires. The amount written on the check was, the symbolic wish of the organization Special Olympics to the rulers of Greece for them to cope as soon as possible with the difficult process of fiscal consolidation, which aims at reducing the budget deficit and the Greek foreign debt which is currently worth about 310 billion euros.

George Papaconstantinou met the children athletes who with a lot of joy and excitement sang their Christmas song and wished him to fight and not to give up on meeting the objectives set. He listened to the greeting of the children and gave them tickets for the performance at the National Opera "Hansel and Gretel." "The holidays give us the opportunity to stay positive even in the difficult moments that we experience today. We have already achieved a lot and I am sure that we will cope with all the difficulties that await us". Papaconstantinou expressed confidence that Greece will go back on the path of positive economic development, and the main objective is that along with this new job positions are opened. "The children from the Special Olympics brought here today great joy, this is an extremely noble and filled with hope initiative which inspires us and we support it for many years," said the Minister in relation to the visit of the athletes.

The team of Special Olympics was officially represented by the Chairman of the Organizing Committee Yana Despotopoulo. She said that despite the difficult economic moment, the Ministry of Finance, the State and various public organizations keep alive the initiative for sports events for disabled children. She expressed particular gratitude to George Papaconstantinou himself, who even when he was an MEP has supported the organization and has facilitated personally for the initiative to be included in the program of the European parliament. "We hope that in 2011 we will organize the best Special Olympic games, we've seen so far", expressed his hopes Yana Despotopulo for the visit of the event in Greece this summer.

The chairman of the Organizing Committee wished that everyone accepted the positive example of the disadvantaged children who are struggling despite the difficulties and are achieving success in various fields. "The messages of joy, hope and optimism that we receive from these children, despite the difficult conditions in which they live. Them must fill us with energy and help us cope with life with the same optimism as they do".