Borissov: How come Greeks are asking for money if they declared a victory?
A possible meeting on July 12 of the European Council, planned should Eurogroup finance ministers agree on a plan for crisis-hit Greece, would be hard for everyone, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said.
Speaking on July 11, as Eurogroup ministers were headed into talks that were to last nine hours and produce no result – with further talks called for July 12 – Borissov told reporters that there was still no rescue plan for Greece.
Referring to the outcome of the Greek referendum the previous Sunday, in which there was a large “no” vote to a by-then defunct offer from Greece’s creditors, Borissov said that “we heard them shouting ‘victory’ but how come they are asking for money if they declared a victory?”
“It will not be easy for the Greeks as they thought, because we heard how they shouted ‘victory’ and how they had won,” Borissov said, but he questioned what kind of victory this was: “You have a victory over someone and the next day you go and ask him for 53 billion euro”.
Borissov again issued assurances about Greek banks in Bulgaria, saying once again that they were subject to Bulgarian legislation and there should be no concern among their customers and depositors.
There was no panic and nor should there be any, Borissov said, adding, “what is more, Europe said that it would help us, if needed”.
He said that it was a concern that many times already, European government leaders had gathered in Brussels to decide, again and again, the Greek problem.
“We will insist on deadlines too, because we travel to Brussels twice a month because of the Greek crisis. I am concerned about the fact that the EU is spending a lot of money of European taxpayers, to summon us to sittings once every couple of days to solve one and the same problem, which has been burning for many years,” Borissov said.
He said that he was reminding those Bulgarians who supported the position of the current Greek government that right after it had taken office, it had imposed a 26 per cent tax on Greek companies operating in Bulgaria, a matter that Bulgaria was taking international court action against.
Yet those in Bulgaria who backed the Greek government “do not comment on this issue,” Borissov said.
