First entry: 8 July 2015 - 11:35 Athens, 08:35 GMT
Last update: 11:35 Athens, 08:35 GMTPolitics
Greeted with cheers to a packed chamber in Strasbourg, from fellow leftists but also from anti-EU members on the far-right, the 40-year-old premier said he was determined to fix years of bad government as well as reverse the increasing inequalities caused by five years of creditor-imposed austerity.
"Let me assure the house that, quite apart from the crisis, we will continue with our reform undertakings," Tsipras said after flying in from Brussels where euro zone leaders handed him a final deadline of Sunday to agree to terms for a new bailout.
"We demand an agreement with our neighbours," he said. "But one which gives us a sign that we are on a long-lasting basis exiting from the crisis, which will demonstrate that there's light at the end of the tunnel ... Our prime objective must be to combat unemployment and to encourage entrepreneurship."
What follows is a report from Athens News Agency on Tsipras' address.
I am here, a few days only after the referendum in Greece, a few days after their mandate to intensify our efforts towards a viable solution, said Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in his address on Wednesday to the European parliament.
“The Greek people's decision does not mean rift with Europe but the return to the European values. I assume full responsibility for what happened in the last five months and I want to reassure you that the Greeks in the last five years have done a tremendous effort that has worn them out. We want an agreement that will foresee credible reforms and with the least possible recessionary measures with a growth agenda. Our proposal also foresees the debt restructuring issue. We should not consider it a taboo. I want to be clear”, said Tsipras
“The proposals for the debt restructuring do not want to burden the European citizens. The money from the loans never came to the Greek citizens but went for the banks' rescue,” the Greek premier added.
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