Greece should pay its debt in full regardless of parliamentary election results — Juncker
"The new Greek government must take on the previous obligations, to stay the course of the reforms and be financially responsible," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said
LONDON/DUBLIN, January 19. /TASS/. Greece should pay its debt in full, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming January parliamentary election, and continue with the negotiated reforms, Chairman of the European Commission (EC) Jean-Claude Juncker said on Monday.
"The new Greek government must take on the previous obligations, to stay the course of the reforms and be financially responsible," said Juncker. "Europe will continue to support Greece but it is expected that Athens will stick to the promises made to its partners," he added.
In turn, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, commenting on the intention of the Greek opposition party, the Coalition of the Radical Left forces (SYRIZA) to write off some of the national debt, by saying that these attempts will "have an impact on trust" between the lender and the borrower.
"Debt is debt and it is a contract. Breach of payments, changing of terms or debt restructuring will undermine the credibility of the signature," Lagarde told The Irish Times.
Early parliamentary elections will take place in Greece on January 25, and according to opinion polls, the main opposition party SYRIZA could win. Leader of the party Alexis Tsipras has said that if he wins the parliamentary elections, his party will seek to write off most of the country's debt, worth €322 billion.
The current Greek government led by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has said that SYRIZA's intention to write off part of the debt will lead the country to default.