President calls on Europe for Greek debt relief

The President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos Thursday urged Greece’s partners to now take measures to ease the country’s debt, especially since all the sacrifices and structural reforms are implemented.

Pavlopoulos made the call during a meeting with the governor of the independent public revenue authority, Giorgos Pitsilis.

"Greece, through the sacrifices of its people, fully meeting its obligations, has achieved the targets for the surpluses it must have. This must be taken into account very seriously at this time, when our partners must also do their part. And I'm talking about the issue of debt relief," Pavlopoulos said.

"There must be debt relief, especially given the requirements of the growth Greece has to achieve. Because debt relief has to be combined with the acceleration of the country's growth rates. This, as you know, is the best way to reduce debt. Growth is that which will ultimately reduce debt, beyond short- or long-term arrangements for the debt itself," he added.

The President expressed his optimism that there will progress on the matter since talk of relief has already begun within EU circles, while expressing his belief that the debate is moving in the right direction.