ATHENS-The leaders of seven southern European Union countries jointly called for the creation of more jobs and investments in Europe after meeting here in a Mediterranean summit.
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As the leaders of France, Italy, Portugal, Malta and Cyprus descended on the Greek capital for brief talks about their respective nations’ struggles with migration and austerity, Tsipras said it was time they banded together to push through their own agendas on a European level.
“Regardless of our ideologies, what unites us is the Mediterranean Sea, our common problems, our faith in the European vision and our common will to fight for a better Europe”, Tsipras said in his welcoming remarks broadcast live by the Greek national broadcaster ERT.
Fears have been raised the group, often referred to as “Club Med”, could form a coalition to block a raft of laws made by Brussels.
“At the time of Brexit, and while populism is on the rise in Europe, it is very important to send a message of cohesion and contribute to the dialogue from southern Europe”, French President Francois Hollande stressed.
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos used Friday’s meeting to urge his counterparts to decide this year on short-term debt relief for Greece and on the specific options for medium-term relief to be discussed, according to a Greek official, who asked not to be identified because the talks were private.
Tax policies within the European Union were also on the agenda at the Bratislava meeting amid calls for an end to corporation loopholes.
With Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in attendance, the gathering comes less than two weeks after rescuers saved a one-day record of 6,500 migrants making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe. “A social Europe, of ideals and of virtue”.
Tsipras, an anti-austerity champion who says the fiscal straitjacket favored by Germany will never allow weak economies such as Greece’s to recover, is also trying to swing more European Union states to his vision.
“I would say that what is creating conditions of delay in regaining trust of markets and investors.is the constant clash and disagreement between the International Monetary Fund and European institutions”, Tsipras told a news conference in the northern city of Thessaloniki. Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy did not attend.
The summit in Athens drew criticism from German lawmaker Manfred Weber who chairs the European Peoples Party Group in the European parliament.
Greece signed up to a third global bailout in mid-2015 worth up to 86 billion euros, with the gradual release of aid contingent on financial reforms ranging from privatizations to changes to the energy market.
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“They did a lot, but a lot of homework is ahead of them”, he said.
