The issue of the ongoing Greek negotiations must be discussed in the European Parliament, Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) leader Guy Verhofstadt said on Tuesday during a press conference in Brussels.
“As far as Greece is concerned, for three weeks we have been hearing that they have almost reached an agreement. However, they don’t come to discuss with us at the European Parliament. They could have come here in the meantime to explain to us what this is all about,” Verhofstadt told reporters. “The mission of the European Parliament is to examine the situation up close at the level of the Union’s executive bodies, to see what the European Commission and the ECB are thinking, but also what are Greece’s positions. Therefore, we need a discussion at the European Parliament plenum, and we need it urgently,” he added.
Christian Democrats in the European Parliament (Group of the European People’s Party) leader Manfred Weber said that Greece could turn to Switzerland for an agreement that would cover its needs and stop “playing with fire.”
Weber also expressed his full support to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who recently expressed his dismay with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ dismissal of the institutions’ proposal. “The Greek government plays with fire on a daily basis and follows a provocative behavior that is not constructive at all. Indeed, Alexis Tsipras and [Finance Minister] Yanis Varoufakis are not the right people to build bridges,” Weber said.
But the European Greens said that adding a pledge for restructuring the Greek debt could be the key for achieving a deal between the two sides.
“Adding a commitment for debt restructuring that would make it viable, as well as measures to stimulate investment, could be the key to reaching an agreement,” said Philippe Lamberts, who along with Rebecca Harms lead the Greens–European Free Alliance.
He also said that there are two categories of creditors: Those who want a deal, such as Juncker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and those who don’t because they want Tsipras’ government to fail.
“The problem is, if we want to reach a solution by adding debt restructuring and measures for investments, it means they recognize that they have followed the wrong path so far, which is something difficult for a politician. I believe though they are ready to bypass that and move forward to achieve a deal,” Lamberts said regarding the first category of creditors.
“On the other side, we have the category of those who insist, because in reality they want Tsipras’ government to fail. And this because his success, that is, an exit from the crisis, even with difficulties, would provide credibility to an alternative political body that would compete with the political entities dominating Europe.”
(source: ana-mpa)
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