The Greek government will not back down in facing pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for more measures, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos reiterated on Sunday during an interview with the radio station Athina 9.84.
“We have made it clear that there is no chance of us accepting all that the IMF demands with regard to the measures but also with regard to labour issues,” he said.
He also suggested that this may not necessarily be the case for main opposition New Democracy and its leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “I think they would be willing to accept (the measures) in the sense that the main opposition party has, throughout the previous period, conducted politics in a way that whetted the IMF’s appetite,” he said.
The atmosphere and momentum among the Eurozone’s leadership pointed to a political agreement on Greece by the end of the year, Tzanakopoulos added, “because everyone understands that Europe cannot withstand another flare-up of the Greek crisis when there are issues that concern Italy, a pre-election year for several European countries and the refugee crisis.”
In the case that the IMF proved inflexible and insisted on its terms, Tzanakopoulos admitted that the pressure from the IMF was strong but noted that there were many other factors affecting a solution for the Greek issue, not just the IMF.
“I do not consider that Europe will stay on the sidelines regarding these demands; we all understand that they are unreasonable, recessionary and absolutely cannot be accepted by our side,” he noted.
(Source: ANA-MPA)
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