Greece, Draghi: “The EU countries have to walk on their legs” – The Daily

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“The eurozone is not a political union in which some countries pay more for others.” This was underlined, with a clear reference to the Greece , ECB President Mario Draghi in the speech for the inauguration of the new headquarters of the European Central Bank , which was preceded by fierce fighting in the streets. The former number one Bankitalia reiterated and reinforce the message to the government Tsipras, that “countries must be able to stand on their own legs and everyone is responsible for their own policies.” If “some countries have had to face a difficult period of adjustment is not a choice set, but was above all a result of their past decisions “. An indirect response to the attacks arrived in recent days by the Greek Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis , which resulted Draghi stating that the statute Eurotower was “written by the Bundesbank” and that is why it does not grant Frankfurt Athens an increase in the ceiling on public debt issues or intends to return to the country 1.9 billion of accrued interest on Greek bonds in its portfolio.

According to Draghi, “renationalise our economies is not the response “to the problems of integration, but instead is” making progress in the areas incomplete, ie in the economic convergence and institutional “.
 
 

In fact, warned the president, “there is no country in the world that manages to thrive isolated from globalization.” Consequently, the argument continued, now the European economic union must be accompanied by a political union “reinforcing channels for a true democratic legitimacy , in particular the European Parliament.” Evolution sought, claimed Draghi, even by those who protest today: “There are some, like today out there many of the protesters, who believe that the problem is that Europe is doing too little. They want a more integrated Europe, with more financial solidarity between nations “.

Draghi so keen to stress that “the European Union as an institution that has played a central role in the crisis, the ECB has become a reference point for those that are frustrated “from the problems resulting from the recession. “This is not just an accusation, given that our action was aimed precisely to mitigate the damage suffered by the economy.” However, he concluded, “as the Central Bank of the whole euro area, must listen very carefully what all citizens have to say.”

A trigger protests and the sit-in against ‘ austerity that were staged in the neighborhood of the Grossmarkthalle was the evolution of the Greek crisis, that tomorrow or the next day will be the subject of a summit on the sidelines of the European Council in Brussels which would bring the same Draghi, the prime minister Alexis Tsipras , Chancellor Angela Merkel, the EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker . A meeting which should serve as food for the journey to the summit Bilateral Tsipras-Merkel scheduled for next Monday, which promises to be very difficult. It does not help the fact that, at the same time, the leader of Syriza has announced that on April 8 will see Russian President Vladimir Putin . In recent months, has been repeatedly aired an intervention of financial support of Russia in favor of Greece, alternative to that of the EU. What is certain is that Athens is in a crisis of liquidity and the former troika, ie the ECB, EU and Monetary Fund – the largest creditors of the country – is losing patience before the unilateral moves of Tsipras and the Minister Varoufakis and the absence of progress in fielding the reforms promises to February.

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