PM Tsipras: We want a future without the mistakes of the past, a different model for Greece
The prime minister made the statement while accepting a prize awarded to him by the Paris-based magazine "Politique Internationale".
Presenting Tsipras with the "Prix du Courage politique" (Political Courage Prize), the magazine's director and founder Patrick Wasjman praised Tsipras for daring to make decisions that ultimately benefited both Greece and Europe. He called him a man with courage and convictions, noting that few men before him had succeeded in making the radical Left the most powerful political force in Greece. It had also taken great courage to go against the troika and the supporters of austerity, Wasjman noted.
Accepting the prize, Tsipras said it was a great honour, while adding that "this award does not belong to me but to the Greek people and I accept it in their name." According to Tsipras, "the courage is the courage shown by the Greek people all these years, in very difficult conditions." He noted that the government had stuck to its plan and what it considered best for the majority, successfully resisting the "sirens" and "gradually guiding the ship called Greece and the ship called Europe to calmer waters.
"We avoided both a disorderly and an orderly default, as well as the plans made by some extreme circles for Greece's exit from the eurozone; we stood on our feet and continue the struggle. The economy is recovering quite strongly, with a growth rate approaching 2 percent in 2017 and fiscal overperformance for third consecutive year. Greece today is nothing like the country of 2015," underlined Tsipras.
Source: amna-mpa