The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, received Andonis Samaras, leader of the main Greek opposition party on Wednesday.
In their meeting they discussed the present economic and financial situation of Greece. President Barroso used this opportunity to urge Samaras to show his commitment to reach a broad national consensus so that Greece can face in the most determined and effective manner its present historical challenges to address the situation of its public finances.
Speaking after today's meetings with European officials in Brussels, including European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European People's Party (EPP) President Wilfried Martens, Samaras emphasised that "we brought to their attention all the available data, which show, beyond any doubt, that the current economic policy in Greece is not successful and must change." "... We presented them with the main points of our alternative proposal and we stressed that it can bring Greece out of the crisis"
He emphasised that the ND plan anticipates extensive cutbacks in the "extravagance" of the public sector.
"But at the same time it includes necessary measures that boost the economy, so that the deep recession can be combatted together with the deficit. And social cohesion to be backed, without which no restructuring plan can succeed until the end ... and, of course, we confirmed our absolute support for the need for privatisations and for the utilisation of public property. In any case, both constitute proposals on which we are insisting from the beginning."
Lastly, Samaras concluded by saying "these two days had a double result: We contributed to the national effort for Greece's speedier exit from the crisis and our views were heard attentively by the leadership of the European Union."
