Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras wrote a statement in Monday’s issue of daily newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton. He states that the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government’s forthright attitude should not be considered a “weakness”. He points to Greece’s failure to cave in to negotiations as a “matter of democracy” stating that we have “no right to bury democracy in the land where it was born.”

Specifically, the statement, written following the Greek delegation’s departure from Brussels, states:

“The insistence of institutions (EC, ECB and IMF) for further cuts to pensions after five years of looting from the Memoranda (bailout programs), can only be viewed as serving political expediency. The Greek government is heading to negotiations with a plan and documented counter-proposals.

We will patiently wait until creditors turn to realism. But if our sincere desire for a solution and the steps we have taken to cover the differences are viewed by some as weaknesses, then let them consider: We don’t just carry the heavy history of struggle on our backs.

We also carry the weight of the nation’s dignity and hopes of the people of Europe. It is too heavy a weight for us to ignore. It is not a case of ideological obstinacy. It is a matter of democracy.

We have no right to bury democracy in the land where it was born.”