Greece must respect reform pledges to stay in euro: PM
Panagiotis Pikrammenos - Photo EU Council
(ATHENS) - Greece must respect its reform pledges to keep its place in the eurozone, caretaker prime minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos said on Friday after meetings with European leaders in Brussels.
"Our European peers want Greece to stay in the eurozone. But they feel it is self-evident that we must also respond to the obligations we have undertaken," Panagiotis Pikrammenos told reporters.
Pikrammenos had just briefed the head of state, President Carolos Papoulias, on a European Union summit on Wednesday at which leaders pledged support for Athens, but where officials also revealed plans for a possible exit scenario.
Diplomats said on the sidelines of the summit that officials had been tasked to make contingency plans in the case of Greece exiting the eurozone.
Greece in 2010 committed itself to a reform programme in return for hundreds of billions of euros (dollars) in bailout funds from the EU and the International Monetary Fund to prevent a default.
Many of the reforms are currently in limbo however as Greece awaits a new election on June 17 after an inconclusive vote on May 6.
Pikrammenos' temporary administration took over last week with the sole task of organising the ballot.
The May 6 vote saw strong gains for the radical left-wing party Syriza, which has threatened to renege on Greece's commitments under the bailout.
The latest polls show Syriza on June 17 may beat the centre-right party New Democracy, which backs the reforms.