Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-05-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] Tsipras to Bloomberg: SYRIZA is an oasis in the desert

[01] Tsipras to Bloomberg: SYRIZA is an oasis in the desert

"We are a pro-European force that wants to change Europe not to dismantle it," he noted adding that SYRIZA's aim is to transform EU's policy.

SYRIZA would ally with Spain's PODEMOS movement that won five seats in the new europarliament, said Tsipras adding that they may consider cooperating with the Socialists, the European Parliament's second biggest group, if they are prepared to challenge the budget-cutting prescriptions laid down by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We would be open to cooperation on the condition that they will return to their political roots, and stop accepting austerity as the only option," he said. "Not if they remain under the spell of Angela Merkel's hegemony."

On national level, the main opposition leader said that he won't feel bound by any agreement Samaras reaches with Greece's creditors this year unless they take account of his demand for writedowns on the country's 240 billion-euro ($327 billion) debt burden, even as he pledged not to jeopardize Greece's membership of the euro.

"The current administration has no mandate to strike deals that will bind the country for years and decades to come without taking into account the result of last Sunday's EU elections and without consulting the biggest party in Greece," he said.

To resolve that tension, he said Samaras should call a snap election, because the result shows the governing coalition is out of sync with the electorate."Only elections will bring political stability in Greece," he said.

Tsipras is also demanding a say in the appointment of a new central bank governor when George A. Provopoulos's term expires next month.

"If the government doesn't consult with us, we will consider it an attempt to create a fait accompli against the public interest," he said. "In that case, I'd like to remind you of what happened in Cyprus."

Beyond the choice of central bank chief, Tsipras is focused on the debt negotiations.

"We want to find a one-off solution, which will be final and will give the Greek economy space to grow, in order to be able to repay part of this debt," he said to Bloomberg.

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