Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ meeting with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday focused primarily on the issues of migration and international terrorism.
In joint statements after their meeting at the Maximos mansion, Samaras referred to the strong friendship between Greece and Spain and underlined that the two countries are facing similar problems due to the economic crisis and the sharp increase of illegal immigration.
The Greek PM underlined that both countries want to protect Europe from the dangers of international terrorism and thanked the Spanish people for their solidarity towards Greece.
More specifically, Mr. Samaras said that the Spanish people lent 26 billion euros to Greece, a true gesture of solidarity. “This assistance is governed by an institutional and moral framework and is recognized by the Greek people who will return the money to Spain,” Mr. Samaras noted.
Asked to comment on main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras’ request for a renegotiation of Greek debt from scratch, the Prime Minister said that the negotiation has been ongoing in recent years and that we are now in the final phase that will lead the country in the post-memorandum era.
“Negotiation must be governed by the rules of the euro zone. Those rules cannot be changed at will,” said Mr. Samaras adding that this is understood by the majority of the Greek people who believe that the country can emerge from the crisis without such nonsense.
On his part, Mr. Rajoy said that he has worked with Mr. Samaras and has witnessed his efforts to lead the country out of the crisis. He characterized the Greek PM as a true leader and underlined that the main concern of the two countries is the protection of their joint currency.
Mr. Rajoy said that the two conservative governments were forced to make tough decisions, but those decisions yielded results. The Spanish PM also referred to the threat of terrorism, saying that the fight against terrorism requires unity and national and international reforms, in order for the countries to adapt to the new circumstances.
