PARIS (MNI) – Alexis Tsipras, head of the Greek radical left party
Syriza, said Friday that if Greece’s international creditors stopped its
funding, Athens would stop servicing its debt.
“Our first choice is to convince our European partners that, in
their own interest, financing must not be stopped,” Tsipras said in an
interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Tsipras said that if Europe and the IMF “cut off our funding, then
we will be forced to stop paying our creditors, to go to a suspension in
payments to our creditors.”
Syriza won the second largest number of votes in parliamentary
elections on May 6, but Tsipras, like leaders of other major Greek
parties, was not able to form a government. Recent polls have shown
Syriza could be the largest party after new Greek elections scheduled to
be held on June 17.
Tsipras made clear that he wants Greece to remain in the euro, even
though he rejects the country’s recent bailout agreement.
“Our national currency is the euro, so it is not that easy to cut
the link,” Tsipras said. “Exit from the euro would have multiple
negative consequences,” he added. “It is not something we desire, it is
not something we are seeking.”
–Paris newsroom, +33142715540; jduffy@marketnews.com
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