European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker appeared in conjunctive spirit during an interview with German television Deutsche Welle, just a few hours ahead of the ongoing critical emergency Eurogroup meeting, in which the Greek positions regarding the country’s program future will be presented. As he highlighted when asked about his friendly attitude during his latest meeting with newly elected Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Brussels, “we are not at a warpath with the Greeks and the new government in Athens, so why not welcome him in a friendly manner?” Regarding what is seen as the Greek side’s choice to collide with the country’s partners, Juncker said that this is not the impression he got during their few-minutes meeting held behind closed doors. “We did not agree on everything, but nevertheless there was a mutual approach of views. I was not able to watch Mr. Tsipras full speech last Sunday in Athens, but it seemed to me it was a speech that is not dictated by the desire to achieve an agreement with the European partners at any price. Europe, however, has 21 republics and not just the Greek one, and is a matter of Mr. Tsipras to determine the content of his positions in order to enable an agreement. Because it cannot just be that the 27 European Union member-states or the 18 Eurozone countries stand against Athens. A mutual displacement is required, which may not be completely symmetrical,” he said. Most importantly, when asked if Greece will be forced to leave the single currency, the European Commission President said that this is something outside his script. “It is not in the scope of my radar. I tried for three years, as head of the Eurogroup, to keep Greece in the Eurozone, not to force it out and not to find itself into the margin. Now that things are more quiet, there is no reason for such scenarios and Mr. Tsipras also said that this is not part of his national plan. We will try together to keep Greece in the Eurozone,” he underlined, ruling out the rumors of a possible Grexit. Finally, as Juncker concluded, the Eurogroup report of November 27, 2012, which declares that “if Greece meets its commitments, then partners could take steps toward its rescue,” is one of significant importance. In his interview with Deutsche Welle, Juncker commented on a number of issues, among which was the Ukrainian Crisis, the Migration Issue as well as the rise of Islamophobic and extreme right parties in Europe.
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