Greece must stay in eurozone, Hollande
Greece “is in the eurozone” and “must stay in the eurozone, French President François Hollande said on Friday at a joint press conference with Angela Merkel. The German Chancellor said that Athens must “improve” its proposals to win the German parliament’s backing.
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“France’s position is that everything must be done on the Greek side and the European side so that there can still be strong cohesion in the eurozone,” Hollande said after meeting Merkel.
“I don’t know of any scenario that today would see Greece leave the eurozone,” Hollande said, adding that that was also the Greek government’s position.
“Since we have had a programme for Greece, political action has aimed to keep Greece in the eurozone,” Merkel declared. “The Greek people have made considerable sacrifices for that and we will do all we can to keep on that road.”
But she stood by Germany’s opposition to Greece’s latest offer.
“Considerable improvement of the substance of [Greece’s] proposals is still necessary for us to obtain the Bundestag’s agreement,” she said.
The Eurogroup meeting on Friday is the beginning of a “phase of intensive consultation and I hope it will bear fruit”, Merkel added.
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