Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused the Spanish government of attempting to overthrow the Greek government, in the Sunday edition of the Spanish newspaper La Razon (March 1).
The article focused on Tsipras’ speech during a party meeting, where he claimed that certain people around Europe and Greece are trying to trap the Greek government and eventually cause its downfall.
Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy responded angrily to Tsipras’ claims pointing out that Spain and Portugal have not formed an “axis of forces” in order to harm the Greek government. Rajoy was most annoyed by the fact that Tsipras claimed that Rajoy’s reaction against Greece was related to the upcoming election and the looming electoral rise of Podemos.
“Neither Spain nor Portugal are responsible for the frustration that Greece’s new government led by the SYRIZA party has generated,” he said, adding that the party “promised the Greeks something they knew that would not be able to deliver.”
Meanwhile, Spain’s Minister for European Affairs Inigo Manuel de Vigo noted that Greece’s economic problems cannot be solved with statements, but with reforms, adding that “we ask the new Greek government to show responsibility.” Furthermore, he added that Span had aided Greece, despite facing its own financial crisis, providing more than 26 billion euros.
A mere hour after the Spanish Prime Minister’s response, Alexis Tsipras made an official announcement saying that the new Greek government does not wish to accuse the countries and residents of Europe and create enemies. On the contrary, the government only seeks solutions on a European level, through the cooperation and the dialogue between people and their governments, adding that any misinterpretation of his speech does not help towards building a healthy dialogue.
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