The joint press conference with French President Francois Hollande and Greek Prime Minister was completed shortly after 13:20 following a meeting the two leaders had at Maximos Mansion and the signing of the Greek-French declaration of cooperation.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras referred firstly to the tragic accident occurred in France saying that difficult times showed us that solidarity is the most important thing.

He continued by describing the two-day visit of Mr. Hollande and the signature of the declaration of cooperation as an important step on the long-lasting relationship the two countries have.

“Last July, we experienced difficult moments, but the hard times bring people together. Francois was one of the people who convinced me to accept a difficult compromise in order to keep Europe united, despite the extreme conservative forces,” he said.

Mr. Tsipras continued saying that Greece must finally get out of the crisis, it must succeed and that Europe’s success depends on the success of the Greek program. He clarified, though, that any unreasonable demands that exceeded the agreed and threatened social peace were actions aiming to divide Europe.

He also stressed that some people must understand that Greece has signed an agreement and not an agreement on delivering its sovereignty.

Mr. Hollande also referred to the accident occurred in France expressing his condolences to the relatives of the victims.

Referring to the issue of solidarity he stressed that France was on Greece’s side during the negotiations highlighting that Greece is a constituent part of the European integration and that is a firm position of European leaders.

“This is a friendly visit. I want both of us to commit to the future and express our willingness to cooperate,” French President said.

Also, he referred to the refugee issue saying that Greece was the border of Europe and that the huge number of refugees was a burden for Greece congratulating all Greeks for dealing this problem with dignity.

He also sent a message to Turkey saying that it should comply with its commitments and patrol its own borders adding that Turkey would receive the appropriate help.

Asked on what should be done regarding the debt and reform program, Mr. Hollande answered “Greece must honor its commitments. Greece does not deny that but, I understand, they want a method, a schedule and flexibility. What worries many Greeks today is the loans, indebted households, which is a new threat for Greek families. We have to review this issue again regarding the threshold below which the auctioning would be prevented. Discussion on Greek debt will continue only if Greece complies with the reform program. EU has committed to the agreement that there will be a debt negotiation”.