After the speeches, both politicians commented on the only question that a journalist managed to ask. He turned to Anders Fogh Rasmussen requesting that NATO "help the Greeks, who are friends of NATO and are threatened by their neighbours to the north, who are not part of NATO. Personally, I am also a friend of NATO, and perhaps one of the few remaining friends of the USA and I think that anti-Americanism in Greece is due to our error. Because, let me say it, Minister, if Makarios had joined Cyprus to NATO, there would be no dictatorship in Greece, nor Turkish invasion of the island." With this statement, he won the strong applause of the majority of the audience.
The NATO Secretary General replied that Greece and Turkey should ease the tension and find a peaceful way to settle their mutual issues. He urged all parties involved in the Cyprus dispute to resolve it as soon as possible.
The Greek Foreign Minister even said that almost every Greek family has relatives in the USA. "Secondly, our cooperation with the USA was and is very close in many areas. Our history shows that we have always been in the same camp with the exception of the period 1967-1974, when we were not particularly happy with their position." Stavros Dimas added that Greece welcomes American tourists, that it is willing to import technology and technical knowledge, and expressed the hope that it will happen soon in order to help Greece emerge from the crisis.
During the meeting, members of the Communist Party held a protest against the visit of Anders Fogh Rasmussen to Athens. For a moment, the meeting became more violent, forcing policeofficers to use tear gas to repel the angry communists.
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