Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras promised not to take “even one euro” more of austerity measures to meet with creditors’ latest demands, speaking to an Athens daily this week, on the occasion of his assumption of power in January 2015.
Tsipras, whose leftist-rightist government coalition signed the third bailout memorandum in August 2015 after half a year of futile negotiations with creditors, also dismissed the possibility of snap elections, saying there is “no point” to such a prospect. Conversely ,he said he isn’t afraid of the ballot box.
Tsipras and his previously anti-memorandum SYRIZA party trail rival main opposition New Democracy (ND) by double-digit figures in all mainstream opinion polls held in the country for several months now.
Creditors have tabled various new demands in order to guarantee that fiscal targets after 2019 are met, regardless of who governs in Athens. One repercussion of the uncertainty after the program ends is the current delay in concluding the second review of Greek program.
In an interview carried by the leftist Athens daily “Efimerida ton Syntakton”, offered a new pledge of no new austerity measures after 2019, when the current bailout program (the third since 2010) ends.
“This is an issue of self respect and dignity,” he told the newspaper.
