Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann is in Greece to meet with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Wednesday.

Before meeting with Greek officials, he visited the social medical office of Athens on Wednesday to meet with people working at the center on a volunteer basis. Afterwards he visited Evangelismos hospital. Earlier he had also received a tour of children’s SOS villages.

Feymann told Austrian broadcaster ORF that there should be more solidarity for Greece bearing in mind the extent of damage that the people have suffered since the start of the debt crisis. “I know there were a number of proposals, also from the institutions, that I also don’t find in order,” he said. “High joblessness, 30-40%, no health insurance and then raising VAT on medicines. People in this difficult situation cannot understand that.”

Characteristically, he declared: “I stand on the side of the Greek people who in this difficult position are being proposed more things detrimental to society.”