The European Parliament president has expressed optimism over reaching agreements between Greece and Brussels on the bailout. Martin Schulz is the
The European Parliament president has expressed optimism over reaching agreements between Greece and Brussels on the bailout.
Martin Schulz is the first EU official to visit Athens since Alex Tsipras’ stormed to power, promising to rollback austerity measures imposed as part of the EU-IMF bailout.
Following a meeting between the two, Schulz said that the fears that Greece would follow its own course were unfounded.
“The Tsipras government is thinking about making proposals and is willing to discuss them by finding solutions with their partners. I think that this is a very positive message.” He also saluted Tsipras’ commitment to fighting tax fraud.
Tsipras’ added that both the EU and Greece are working towards a common goal, aiming for “a return to development, a return to employment, a return of social cohesion to Greece.” He insisted that there would be “careful” negotiations.
The comments came ahead of a meeting with eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem on Friday, which will mark the beginning of debt talks, which have been the focus of headlines across the eurozone.
Greek stocks recovered some of their losses on Thursday, rebounding from record lows earlier this week, as Athens revealed signs of a willingness to work together with its European partners.