Tsipras, Timmermans discuss European elections
After talks on Monday with visiting European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans, the socialists' candidate for EC president, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he believed that European Parliament elections in May could be the most critical for the future of Europe.
Wishing good luck to Timmermans, Tsipras remarked that, "the rise of the far-right creates obstacles to our common future," expressing concern about a recent spike in the use of nationalist and racist rhetoric.
"We must prove that those forces pertaining to be anti-systemic are actually more systemic than the systemic," Tsipras said.
The first step is for Europe to acknowledge the problem and then for it to make it a priority to create a front against nationalist and racist rhetoric.
He blamed the rise of the far-right in Europe on neoliberal policies.
Timmermans, for his part, expressed European support for the end of austerity in Greece and an increase in investments along with a fairer tax system.
