Tusk urges both Greece and creditors to bring 'realistic proposals' for reforms and debt

Gazzetta team 9 Ιουλίου 2015 - 15:22

European Council President Donald Tusk on Thursday said that he had contacted Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the telephone and hoped to receive "concrete and realistic proposals" from Athens within the day. Tusk was speaking at a press conference in Luxembourg, during an official visit to mark the start of Luxembourg's six-month presidency of the European Union.

Tusk also put pressure on Greece's creditors, however, saying that if Athens came through, a parallel proposal will also be needed from the creditors.

If Greece provides a realistic proposal, then “it will need to be matched by an equally realistic proposal on debt sustainability by the creditors”.

"Only then will we have a win-win situation. Otherwise we will continue the lethargic dance that we have been dancing for the last five months," Tusk added.

He stressed that the EU side was ready to do everything necessary to support the fiscal stability of the euro zone.

The European Council president concluded by saying that the assistance extended to Greece could not be used to follow a mistaken economic philosophy that he said was the "main source of the crisis".

"Europe's help to Greece must be accompanied by the old Roman saying, 'Magnum vectigal est parsimonia' (thrift is a great revenue)," he added.