“Civil war” between the auditors of the European Parliament on Tsipras’ proposals

Today’s update of the Commission of the European Parliament which investigates the role of the Troika in Greece led to an acute political confrontation after the negative statements about Alexis Tsipras.

Speaking at a news conference and answering a question from protothema.gr, Karas moved away from yesterday's remarks, saying "we are not here to evaluate the work of Tsipras. However, we talked for an hour with the opposition leader. I stand by what I said yesterday about him," Karas said.

Then it was the turn of the Euro-socialist spokesman Liêm Hoang-Ngoc, who said that the enlarged group of representatives from ESM, Olli Rehn, IMF and ECB attended the meeting with Alexis Tsipras and that "it is true that Tsipras did not come with suggestions, but with a program."

The French MEP raised the book on the positions of SYRIZA, whose text seems to have been written in Greek. Earlier however, Ngoc seemed to clear up the situation having said that he and Othmar Karas met with the leader of the Greek opposition on 11 December in Strasbourg.

"In that productive meeting, Tsipras said he supports the investigation and welcomed the involvement of the EP in the work of the Troika. Tsipras presented us with a detailed economic and social analysis and policy recommendations. I have carefully read the document, which along with other information helped us understand the economic, social and political situation in Greece. I welcome my collaboration with Alexis Tsipras and look forward to presenting a balanced and understandable report on the role and actions of the Troika," Liêm Hoang-Ngoc said.

Under pressure from repetitive questions, the representatives of the European Parliament argued that there was no negotiation.

The German compensations

Asked by protothema.gr, Karas declined to answer on the subject of German war compensations, and refrained from speaking about the role of his father in law, Kurt Waldheim, former Austrian president and former UN Secretary General during the German occupation of Greece.

Clearly feeling uncomfortable by the question, he merely said that the issue will be investigated by the relevant European commissions under the European legislation.