Parties hail Greek deal but feel the pain and ‘humiliation’

POLITICAL parties in Cyprus on Monday welcomed the agreement between Greece and its international lenders but called it a “painful” one for the Greek people “at the hands of authoritarianism” within Europe.

House President Yiannakis Omirou said that certain eurozone members had shown extreme responses towards Greece during weekend negotiations, putting on the table certain proposals with the sole aim of curbing Greece’s sovereign rights. “These kinds of actions have nothing to do with European principles,” he said.

Opposition parties, AKEL, DIKO, EDEK and the Greens took a similar line as the House speaker, slamming mainly Germany for its tough stance and questioning the future of the eurozone.

AKEL spokesman George Loukaides, asked if he believed the EU acted vindictively after the referendum in Greece Loukaides said that punitive terms had been imposed on all of the bailout countries“ but the EU has continued and intensified its punitive policies against the Greek people”, he said

EDEK said the deal had been reached in a climate of blackmail, pressure and unacceptable behaviour by the Europeans, some of whom had the strategic goal of an exit of Greece from the eurozone and eventually the European Union, “or the humiliation of the Greek people and the unconditional subordination of the country to foreign decision makers”.

DIKO also slammed the “unacceptable behaviour” of some EU countries but welcomed the resolve shown by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. The Greens echoed his comments, adding “this is not the Europe we want”, while ruling DISY hailed the fact an agreement was made.

“We could never imagine a United Europe without Greece,” the party said, adding that the party recognised the major new sacrifices for the Greek people, “but at least they have avoided the worst, that of a disorderly default and exit from the euro”.

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides tweeted on Monday afternoon: “The eurozone remains solid. Greece and Greek civilisation belong at the core of the European Union. We most welcome it”.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.