When I was growing up in the United States and Sweden, I never thought about becoming a politician.

Markets are saying pretty much what I'm saying too: that Greece is doing what it can, but that Greece is not going to be able to carry the weight of all of Europe and the other problems that Europe has.

There are certain moments in the history of a nation when the choices made define the decades to come.

At times of distress, we all like to recall the advice of fathers and mothers. The best advice my father gave me was to keep faith and deep confidence in the potential of the Greek people; nurture the belief that they can do things.

First of all, Greece won't go down. We're talking about a country that is capable of making change. Europe will not allow the destabilization of the 27-country euro zone. But if there were no action, then markets would start becoming jittery about other countries - and not only Spain and Portugal, but other countries in the European Union.

An elected government making huge changes with the consent of its people, is being undermined by concentrated powers in unregulated markets-powers which go beyond those of any individual government.

We stand united, facing the big responsibility to change our country into a nation of justice, solidarity, humanity and green development.