European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker criticized the Greek government’s decision to end the bailout talks with the referendum announcement, while he defended the institutions’ reforms proposal.
“I am in favor of a Europe that patiently seeks the common interest rather than the confrontation of national interests and the rivalry of national egos. It is not a poker game during which someone wins and someone loses. Everyone wins, everyone loses. I am not happy with what happened in Europe last week. I feel betrayed,” European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said in a speech on Monday.
He also added that SYRIZA’s actions were not worthy of the Greek nation, while he stressed that he did not wish to see Plato play in the second division. “We will never let the Greek people down, and we know the Greek people don’t want to let down the EU,” he said, urging Greeks to vote “yes” in the referendum, set to take place on Sunday, July 5.
“The European Commission has no new proposals to present at the moment,” he said, underlining that a “no” vote in the referendum would mean that Greece has decided to distance itself from Europe. Juncker also stressed that the institutions were prepared to present a new deal on Friday, right before the Greek government announced the referendum and started campaigning in favor of a “no” vote. “After all the efforts I deployed from the commission, I feel betrayed because these efforts were insufficiently taken into account,” he said, adding that his efforts would have led to no wage or pension cuts and created more social fairness.
“To set one democracy against 18. This does not help any European citizen and no Greek citizen. The Greeks must, however, know clearly what is at stake next Sunday.”
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