Addressing the European Parliament yesterday, in a debate on the Greek debt crisis, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras remarked that Greece has concrete proposals and credible reforms, for a fair and viable solution with redistributive policies so that balanced and sustainable growth can be achieved.

Referring to the previous bailout programmes that turned Greece into an austerity laboratory that condemned its economy into a recessionary vicious cycle, and society in a long-lasting and deep depression, the premier urged Europe not to succumb to division at a critical time both for Greece, the Eurozone and the European Union as a whole.

In the course of the heated debate, opposing views were heard and many took the stand to express their views on the ongoing crisis, but the overall consensus was that Europe and the Eurozone, where Greece belongs, must remain united.

“Right now the future of Europe is at stake, and Greece is part of Europe. We must not divide the assembly, we must not divide the institutions of the European Union, but unite them,” said the president of the Progresive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Giani Pittella.

In his concluding remarks, Tsipras strongly dismissed claims of a secret plan to leave the Eurozone, noting that contrary to accusations heard in the course of the debate, Greece had indeed come up with proposals for reforms and clamped down hard on tax evasion. He reiterated that Greece is committed to proceeding with fiscal adjustments and achievement of budgetary objectives required by the Eurozone, reserving however the sovereign right to decide how to allocate the tax burden: a sovereign government must have the right to choose equivalent measures to achieve required targets, he said.