European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stated on Tuesday that the Greek people’s democratic will, as it was expressed in the recent general elections that brought leftist SYRIZA party to power, should be taken into account.

Addressing the annual meeting of the European Parliament and the national parliaments on the European Semester, Juncker congratulated the Greeks for “their courage.” However, he underlined that the winner of any elections should in their turn respect the rest of Europe.

The EC President acknowledged that certain policies must be changed, but he stressed that “we cannot turn the world upside down just because of an election result.”

Juncker also made specific reference to the initiatives taken by the Commission before the Greek elections on the 315 billion euro investment program and the decisions on the flexibility of the Stability Pact.

“I understand what happened in Greece and I am telling you that the EU Commission actions took place before the lesson that was drawn, according to some people, from the result of the Greek elections,” the EC head stated.