An onslaught against SYRIZA and especially Alexis Tsipras was unleashed by Prime Minsiter Antonis Samaras in a speech during his visit to Ioannina, as part of his election tour.

“Mr. Tsipras is not a threat for Greece. It is an accident which cannot be allowed to happen. This accident is one we must all stop on Sunday”, stated the Prime Minister.

“My fellow countrymen and countrywomen”, he stated, “we are only two days prior to elections and I want to be clear: nobody can declare to be unaware of what can happen. Mr. Tsipras, acting irresponsibly and dangerously, declared the European elections as a referendum against the government. He wants to overthrow the government at all costs!”.

Continuing the personal attack, Mr. Samaras stated: “I encountered this unprecedented opportunistic misery by Mr. Tsipras with the temper and responsibility that my position as PM and the country’s interest required. I did not allow anyone, foreign or domestic, during this election struggle, to challenge the political stability and the determination of the Greek people who wish to move forward”.

Addressing his voters personally: “I know that, despite the bitterness and worries you have, that in the bottom of your heart you know that I have been and still am giving everything I have, to help this country stand on its own two feet for good. That it never returns to the nightmarish condition we went through! I know that you all recognize this struggle. And I owe you for it! I am also aware that you can all see that we are achieving our goals, step by step. Your sacrifices are not going to waste. I know that deep inside, you are aware that the only way we could go was up this steep, difficult hill! I wish I could lead you through easier paths! Who wouldn’t! But you should know, that there was no other choice”.

Concluding, the Prime Minister stated that “we have come one step before the top, and as easy as it might be to reach the summit, it is as easy to roll back down to the bottom, where we started”.

He exclaimed: “I call upon you to stand by my side, now more than ever. Stand next to me, with strength and determination. The clear message must be given during this Sunday’s elections. We will not turn back! We cannot turn back!”

Mr. Samaras also said that no one should be indifferent to the outcome of European elections.

But he returned to Mr. Tsipras’ issue, with a damning verbal indictment: “Where we’ve ended up, I have nothing to say to Mr. Tsipras! Never in my life have I heard so many lies, so many slanders, insults, such irresponsible gibberish, so much hypocrisy. I am not interested in his delirium. But I cannot let the sacrifices of a whole people go to waste! He cannot even put together a coherent sentence. He keeps repeating that he will “tear up the memoranda” and that “the Euro is not a fetish”. But sometimes, he slips up and says that he will be “forced to borrow”! Mr. Tsipras, however, is dreaming while both awake and asleep, hoping to cause premature elections! But the country is not an old-school student meeting. It is not a high school debate team. The country needs economic activity. And early elections would paralyze it”.

“The country needs stability, so that tourists can visit us this summer, so that deposits can return to our banks, so that the economy can be bolstered by investments. This “game” of premature elections would blow all of this sky-high! Everything will collapse, before they have a chance to tear them down! The only thing they know how to do is condemn and complain, to undermine and destabilize”, concluded the Prime Minister.