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Venizelos says agreement is ‘tough and humiliating’ but needed to avert Grexit

Venizelos says agreement is ‘tough and humiliating’ but needed to avert Grexit

The agreement signed on Monday morning after a marathon session between Greece and its creditors is “tough and humiliating, and much worse than the two memorandums that came before it,” Evangelos Venizelos, former finance chief and PASOK opposition leader, said.

“However,” said Venizelos, who served as deputy prime minister in the former coalition government, “Greece avoided an exit from the eurozone and total disaster.”

The success of the new blueprint for a final bailout deal, which includes some measures Venizelos described as “not absolutely necessary,” will depend on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras being able to push the measures through Parliament and his fractious coalition.

Venizelos noted that one Tsipras's first orders of business will be to address the role of ruling SYRIZA hardliner Zoe Constantopoulou as parliamentary speaker after she failed on Friday to back the government's initial proposal to creditors.

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