Juncker cautions Greece before Tsipras due in Brussels
A day before Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is due on his first visit to Brussels just over a week after being elected, European Commission President Jean-Claude warned that “we aren’t going to change everything because of one electoral result that some people like and some people don’t like,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
“I have already said to him [Tsipras] twice on the telephone that we have to take account of the democratic expression of the Greek people,” Juncker told lawmakers in the European Parliament, the WSJ said. “But I think those who won the elections will also have to take account of the way in which others do things and the convictions of others.
“So yes, we are going to have to do a certain amount, but we aren’t going to change everything because of one electoral result that some people like and some people don’t like,” Juncker is quoted as saying.
While the Commission chief has supported calls from Athens for more growth-geared measures to replace austerity, he added Tuesday “what I don’t think we should do is simply replace what we have already had with its exact opposite. That will basically send us to the wall.”
