Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras responds to Die Welt publications on Greece

A televised interview with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday evening responded to the report in German newspaper Die Welt that described Greece as a “rudderless ship” and accused the government of delaying the implementation of reforms. Tsipras said Greece has achieved very difficult milestones and is implementing all its commitments, during a televised interview on public broadcaster ERT.

On Die Welt’s description

“The official voice of the German government in Greece, the German embassy, completely dismissed the report,” said Tsipras who underlined that the reportage did not reflect the view of the official German government but that conservative circles never miss an opportunity to attack the government.

“Our country is not only implementing its commitments, but has also achieved very difficult milestones. What was threatening our country is off the table,” he said. He added that Greece has allies.

On widening the government coalition

Tsipras said that he “feels very safe” with the parliamentary majority he already holds at 153 MPs, adding that his intent was not to create a unity government bearing in mind that Greeks expressed their will in the recent elections. He said his party has a 4-year mandate.

“We don’t need support,” he said. “We want parties to table their proposals on big issues which extend beyond the 4-year mandate, such as the pension system reform, which is a national one, and say ‘No’ to horizontal cuts, to draw the national red line.”

On political influences

He said that a triangle formed by the political, banking and media systems will be crushed. “We’ve reached a point today where politicians are supported by media groups,” he said. “SYRIZA and I have gone through the hoop.” He wondered why the main opposition New Democracy (ND) party has not presented proposals for independent TV regulators, such as the Greek National Council for Radio and Television (NCRTV).