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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-06-09
CONTENTS
[01] Agreement in sight, but no to benefit cuts, PM Tsipras tells Corriere
della Sera
[01] Agreement in sight, but no to benefit cuts, PM Tsipras tells Corriere
della Sera
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday in an interview with Corriere
della Sera referred to the progress of the negotiations with the
institutions as well as Greece and Europe's economic future.
Asked what new proposals he intends to make in order to reach a compromise
in the meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President
Francois Hollande, he said: "I think that tomorrow's discussions
will assess progress made so far. We will set a clear timetable for
the agreement. We have submitted a full text, including common ground
identified during technical negotiations in the Brussels Group. We will be
working to bridge the gap on state finance, putting forward alternative
proposals where demands are irrational and unacceptable. All this,
however, will have some meaning if the institutions [are willing to find
serious solutions for debt sustainability. We want to end once and for
all this horrendous debate on Grexit, which has been a brake on economic
stability in Europe for years. Not recycle the problem every six months."
On measures agreed with the creditors, Tsipras said: "I believe we
are very close to agreement on the primary surplus for the next few
years. All it requires is a positive attitude to alternative proposals
to pension cuts and the imposition of recessive measures. Our goal is
measures that contain an element of redistribution and social justice."
Asked why Greece should be any different from the others countries where
austerity has been implemented, he stated: "The difference is that in
Greece austerity has been applied with a brutality never seen before
and has brought with it disastrous economic and social consequences
... The humanitarian crisis of the homeless and those who live on the
edges of society has grown day by day. You only need to look at the
programmes in Ireland or Portugal to realise that the comparisons are
‘unfortunate'. No one has suffered as much as Greece."
Tsipras underlined that the key issue is that the entire weight of the
crisis has fallen on the shoulders of the poor and the middle class. "What
we would have expected from our partners was an opportunity to take
advantage of the fact that Greece at last has a government prepared to
take on the economic oligarchy and that they would help us to combat
tax evasion, contraband and illegal employment. We are the only ones
who can make these reforms. Only this will reassert Europe's legitimacy
in the eyes of its citizens, and also in Greek eyes. This is the great
challenge for Europe and Greece."
Regarding the possibility of early elections, he said: "I don't foresee,
nor I want, another election. We received an electoral investiture just
three months ago and the polls show we have expanded our influence. In
the four years allotted, we will carry our work through to completion. We
won't let the Greek people down."
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