Athens on Tuesday secured the political statement it had hoped for from outgoing US President Barack Obama, who underlined the need for debt relief for Greece and for the European Union to ease off excessive austerity.
“We cannot simply look to austerity as a strategy,” Obama said told a joint media conference with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
“Our argument has always been that when the economy contracted this fast, when unemployment is this high, that there also has to be a growth agenda to go with it and it is very difficult to imagine the kind of growth strategy that’s needed without some debt relief mechanism.”
Obama also underlined the importance of reforms that will ensure Greece is attractive for the investments that will allow it to return to growth.
He said it was crucial to ease hardship and improve the daily lives of Greek citizens.
Tsipras struck a similar tone, declaring that “Greece’s economy and society, after seven whole years, cannot take any more austerity.”
He expressed optimism that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would respond positively to Greece’s demands, noting that as a German she is consistent about honoring agreements and as a politician she has a sense of responsibility for the future of Europe.
“We cannot simply look to austerity as a strategy,” Obama said told a joint media conference with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
“Our argument has always been that when the economy contracted this fast, when unemployment is this high, that there also has to be a growth agenda to go with it and it is very difficult to imagine the kind of growth strategy that’s needed without some debt relief mechanism.”
Obama also underlined the importance of reforms that will ensure Greece is attractive for the investments that will allow it to return to growth.
He said it was crucial to ease hardship and improve the daily lives of Greek citizens.
Tsipras struck a similar tone, declaring that “Greece’s economy and society, after seven whole years, cannot take any more austerity.”
He expressed optimism that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would respond positively to Greece’s demands, noting that as a German she is consistent about honoring agreements and as a politician she has a sense of responsibility for the future of Europe.
Obama also referred to United Nations-backed Cyprus peace talks, saying that even though “success is not guaranteed,” there is a “real prospect for resolving” the decades-old dispute, in fact “the best they have seen for some time” as both leaders, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and the Turkish-Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, appear committed to a solution. If they reach an agreement, he said, everyone will support it.
Nonetheless, Tsipras expressed Greece’s firm opposition to a solution that would entail the presence of Turkish troops on the island. Both men also rejected the “anachronistic” system of guarantees that Turkey insists on preserving as part of a solution.
Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who met Obama earlier on Tuesday, expressed the same sentiments and insisted that any solution should be based on international law and the acquis communautaire, which would exclude the existence of occupying troops on the island...
As Greek and American officials dined at the Presidential Mansion, hundreds of hooded youths clashed with police a few blocks away.
Source: www.ekathimerini.com
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