European People’s Party (EPP) president and EU Commission candidate Manfred Weber took direct aim at Greece’s shaky leftist government on Thursday, criticizing its economic policies, and in a timely reference, its stance over the ongoing Venezuela crisis.
Weber, with main opposition New Democracy (ND) president Kyriakos Mitsotakis by his side, spoke in Athens. ND is a member of the EPP grouping in the European Parliament, whereas the pro-reform Mitsotakis has been among Weber’s most prominent supporters for the top Commission spot.
In a high-profile reference to Greece’s closely scrutinized post-bailout “enhanced supervision” regime and the high fiscal targets agreed to by the current Tsipras government, as far as the country’s annual fiscal targets are concerned, Weber left open the possibility of “negotiations” over primary budget surplus targets.
He qualified his statement by adding, much to the delight of his ND interlocutors, that this necessitates “a government in Greece that opens up new fields for growth”.
During a joint press conference with Mitsotakis, the Bavarian conservative politician added that he’s certain ND will emerge victorious in the coming election races, while forecasting “close cooperation, with the goal being economic recovery.”
“We need a new government in Greece… no one should leave their home or country due to economic reasons,” he said, a reference to the thousands, with some estimate as high as hundreds of thousands of Greeks, that left the country during the crisis years, beginning in 2010.
Moreover, Weber also didn’t mince his words in referring to the Venezuela political crisis and alleged “softness” on the part of the Tsipras government and ruling SYRIZA party vis-a-vis the Maduro administration, saying the current “Greek government has more in common with (Nicholas) Maduro than with the free world”.
