The 17th Council of the European Green Party was held in Athens on November 9-11, hosted by the Greek Green party, Eco-Greens.

The council began with an appeal towards Europe to give Greece more time and support its economic growth, while also proposing "Green ways" out of the crisis in Greece and the rest of Europe

The event was attended by Eurodeputies (MEPs) and co-presidents of the Group of Greens at the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Rebecca Harms and Philippe Lambert, as well as Eco-Greens MEP, Nikos Chrysogelos.

A delegation of Greens/EFA MEPs headed by the party’s co-president Daniel Cohn-Bendit had successive meetings with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

They also met the leaders of the two parties backing the coalition government, Evangelos Venizelos of PASOK and Fotis Kouvelis of DIMAR.

In the meeting with Venizelos, talks focused on the latest developments in the country as well as the next steps in the negotiation process, while discussions with Kouvelis centred on issues concerning the economic crisis and its effects on Greek society.