Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had a series of telephone conversations with European leaders on Saturday ahead of Monday’s critical Eurogroup. Tsipras spoke with the President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi and told him that he respects the fact that ECB is an autonomous entity that doesn’t heed to political pressure, and said that the ECB should treat Greece the same regardless of the person heading the finance ministry. The Greek premier also spoke with his French counterpart Fransois Hollande and the two men agreed to have a close cooperation on all areas. They also agreed that the finance ministers of the two countries should meet in Paris and later in Athens. Later, Tsipras spoke to his close associates saying that the negotiations are mainly political. Meanwhile, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said during a think tank in Venice that Athens wants to implement reforms that will be for the benefit of all Europe. He mentioned the letter of seven proposals he sent to Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem. According to Greek government sources, Dijsselbloem reacted positively and stressed the need that talks in the Euroworking Group and between the technical teams should continue so that the agreement of February 20 would be put in practice. President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker called on all members of the European Union to understand the dire condition Greek society is in. Speaking to German newspaper Die Welt, Juncker said, “We must make sure the situation in Greece will not get worse. What concerns me is that not all members of the EU understand the seriousness of the situation in Greece.” Juncker stressed that one fourth of Greeks don’t have health insurance and unemployment is at the highest, especially among the young. At the same time, he reiterated that Greece will not exit the euro zone and that such scenarios damage the reputation of the common European currency. However, he called on Greece to respect the reforms it has agreed on with creditors. “If the (Greek) government wants to spend more money, it must counter-balance that with additional revenues,” he said.
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