Leader of the New Democracy (ND) party Antonis Samaras on Tuesday again lashed out at the leader of the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) party, Alexis Tsipras, claiming that he is "naive or dangerous", prompting a SYRIZA response that "from now on, the Greek people will be represented in Europe with dignity". Criticizing Tsipras for his comments on Monday, aimed at French President Francois Hollande, the ND leader said "his (Tsipras) attack on the new French President in Paris shows that he is both naive and dangerous, considering that he targeted a politician whose positions are clearly in favor of our country". He also accused Tsipras of hurting the country internationally with his stance.
"While Greece is in search of alliances abroad and everybody is working on it Tsipras destroys every effort with an unbelievable arrogance leading the country to the isolation he and his fractions have been dreaming of," Samaras said.
Tsipras reportedly said the new French president risked turning into "Hollandreou" if he reneged on promises, a play on Hollande's last name and that of resigned Greek PM George Papandreou. The Greek leftist leader was not able to meet with Hollande, with the presidency saying that the French President officially meets with other heads of state. SYRIZA replied that "the country's political and media establishment is used to leaders who are suppliant and beggars when confronted by the Europeans, who stand at attention, like George Papandreou, when he met with Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy in Cannes".
The statement also underlined that the new element emerging from the debate currently taking place in Europe is that "the one-way street of neo-liberal recipes and anti-social austerity policies is being questioned for the first time in decades." (AMNA)
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