TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva has asked Greece to cooperate with Europe and reminded his Greek counterpart that Portugal had contributed millions of euros from its taxpayers' money to the Greek bailout fund.
"Portugal has shown solidarity, and as such, Greece needs to stay within the Eurozone," said Cavaco Silva at a public event in Lisbon, according to Portugal's news agency, Lusa, as quoted by Xinhua.
"On top of the 1.1 billion Euro loan that we have given Greece, Portugal has also diverted the dividends derived from bonds in possession of the Bank of Portugal, which essentially are Portuguese tax payers' money," added Cavaco Silva.
Cavaco Silva also said that Greece could not do as it pleased, and that the policies within the Eurozone required coordination among its members, before emphasizing that Eurozone economies were interconnected.
It is known that Greece's public debt currently stands at 175 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and that Greece's newly-elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has gone on an European tour to gather support for his plans to loosen the austerity measures imposed on Greece.
Tsipras has said that he would not change his anti-austerity measures on Wednesday throughout his negotiations with Greece's European creditors in Brussels, and insisted that a new deal on the bailout be signed.
Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has openly rejected Tsipras' proposals, while other officials are considering other options, which include extending the deadline for repayments, or reducing the interest rate on the bailout.
ANTARA
