Greece’s debt problem could be resolved by ending austerity, the President of the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), Gabriele Zimmer, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on Tuesday.
“The debt problem can be resolved first and foremost by ending the austerity policy, as this is one of the reasons debt is augmenting,” Zimmer said, following a meeting of the GUE/NGL leadership with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras earlier in the day.
Zimmer, an MEP with Germany’s Die Linke, also said she’s convinced that there are options other than that of austerity imposed on Greece by its creditors. “We must accept that the solution does not only lie in fiscal policy; we must see at the same time how sustainable development can be supported in Greece but also in other EU member-states,” she explained.
Spanish party Podemos MEP Lola Sanchez said returning money to creditors should not be placed above human rights and social policy. “Greece, Spain, all Mediterranean countries that have a high debt must find a solution to return the money by taking also into consideration that we have to develop, to have steady growth, so that we can return it,” she said.
“If there is no demand, it is impossible to collect the revenues to repay the debt,” she added.
(source: ana-mpa)
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