President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker wrote an article on the events occurred in 2015, “a year when European solidarity withstood what may have been the greatest trials it has faced since the end of World War II”.

On his article in Project Syndicate, Mr. Juncker refers extensively to the Greek crisis, while he also talks about the refugee crisis.

Regarding Greece, he says that all the negotiation talks tried the patience of all European partners loosing much and trust.

“From the start of the year, the talks on Greece tried the patience of us all. Much time and trust were lost. Bridges were burned. Words were spoken that cannot easily be taken back. We saw Europe’s democracies being played against one another”.

But, “European solidarity prevailed, and trust has started to recover. The key now will be delivery on reforms, and the European Commission continues to support Greece’s side with a new Structural Reform Support Service, as well as by providing technical assistance at every step of what is still a long journey.”

As for the refugee crisis, European Commission president refers to the measures and steps taken by European Union for handling the crisis commenting that “European solidarity continues to be tested by the refugee crisis”.

“We tripled our presence in the Mediterranean Sea, helping to save lives. We fought back against the criminal networks of smugglers and traffickers. We showed solidarity by agreeing to relocate among our member states those people most in need of international protection.

Mr. Juncker also stresses the fact the European solidarity must prevail, while comparing the “ timelines for the refugee crisis and the financial crisis” he say that “we are now in February 2010, when European countries still thought that the tools they had at the national level were sufficient to address problems that we now know required a coordinated, European response.”