SPAIN-POLAND Spain, Poland hope Greece will honour bailout agreement

Record ID: 146875

  • Title: SPAIN-POLAND Spain, Poland hope Greece will honour bailout agreement
  • Date: 16th July 2015
  • Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (JULY 16, 2015) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 31st July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2IWBAD4ZGEFV3JMVRUW0BCAOL
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Spain and Poland on Thursday (July 16) said they hoped Greece would fulfill the reforms agreed in a bailout agreement as Europe moved to reopen funding to its stricken economy.
    Late on Wednesday (July 15), a fractious Greek parliament approved a tough bailout programme in a vote that left the government without a majority.
    "We hope the agreement reached Monday morning will be fulfilled," Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy said in a joint news conference with his visiting Polish counterpart Ewa Kopacz.
    The Spanish prime minister said that the five months of negotiations with the government of Alexis Tsipras had left Greece worse off and that the small gains made before his election had all been lost.
    "The lesson is clear, building requires time and effort, but destruction happens very quickly," Rajoy said adding that he was confident Greece could return to growth if it carried out the reforms it has agreed.
    "This is about Greece going back to normality, that Greece has growth, that jobs become available in Greece, that things go back to normality and that people pay taxes and social services improve," he said.
    Kopacz said she agreed with Rajoy on the graveness of the situation in Greece and Europe adding that a solution demands efforts from both Greece and its European partners.
    "Europe is experiencing an important and exceptional moment. I am pleased that the prime minister and I coincide in our opinion on how grave the situation in Greece is," she said. "A solution of the Greek crisis demands efforts from both sides and above all socio-economic reforms in Greece."
    With upcoming general election in both Spain and Poland, Kopacz said voters should take the situation in Greece into account when casting their ballots.
    "If you promise the earth beyond what a country's budget can handle, this is what happens and it's a strong warning for all who are currently asking themselves about their vote in the upcoming general elections which will take place in Poland and Spain," she said.
    Tsipras won the backing of parliament in the early hours of Thursday for the stringent reform measures demanded by Greece's creditors led by Germany, but was left weakened by a revolt in his left-wing Syriza party.
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