Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-05-13

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Tsipras meets Russia's Titov in Moscow, holds talks on Ukraine

[01] Tsipras meets Russia's Titov in Moscow, holds talks on Ukraine

Tsipras, who is currently in Moscow on a two-day visit at the head of a SYRIZA delegation, noted that Titov was in charge of Russian diplomacy for European issues, including Greek-Russian cooperation, and said they exchanged views on EU-Russian and German-Russian relations, as well as bilateral cooperation issues.

SYRIZA's leader underlined that the necessary political will had been missing in the past to develop bilateral cooperation and that the Russian side had noted the many unexploited possibilities in this direction. Shortly before meeting Tsipras, in the framework of a joint initiative by the Left in Greece and Germany on the problem in Ukraine, Titov had also met the head of Germany's Leftist Die Linke party Gregor Gysi.

Tsipras said his talks with Titov offered an opportunity "to obtain a complete picture about current developments in the Ukraine issue. We underlined our concerns, where we coincide and where we disagree with the Russian side but, chiefly, we underlined the need for a peaceful resolution to this crisis. And the need, on the part of the EU, to highlight dialogue, negotiations and the diplomatic route, and not sanctions or an escalation of tension."

"In the last days, also, we had the opportunity to submit the view that Ukraine must be a bridge of cooperation and not division in the heart of Europe and that the Ukrainian people are the only ones empowered to decide their future, through constitutionally foreseen democratic processes, whether these are elections or referendums."

Commenting on Monday's article in the Financial Times concerning what occurred behind the scenes at the Cannes European summit in 2011, when then prime minister George Papandreou had tried to suggest a Greek referendum, Tsipras noted that "Europe's great deficit today is a deficit in democracy."

"This is revealed by yesterday's revelations in the Financial Times. The European leadership, unfortunately, wants governments in Ukraine and in Greece that are subjugated. Governments that don't represent the interests of their people but the short-sighted aims of the European leadership," he added.

According to Tsipras, there was no other way to comment "on the fact that [Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras] had been proved since 2011 to be nothing more than [European Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso's] puppet, in order for memorandums to continue in Greece, even when to Greek people he had adopted an anti-memorandum rhetoric."

SYRIZA believes that people should have the last word and take their fate into their own hands, so that "Europe can return to its founding values. To democracy, above all, to social cohesion, solidarity and prosperity. Because prosperity without without peace cannot exist," Tsipras added, noting that his party's message was one of people's power and democracy.

The SYRIZA delegation will end its visit will meet the leadership of the Duma, Russia's lower house of Parliament, later on Tuesday, before departing for Athens.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article