EU Commission head in Athens to discuss post-bailout plans

ATHENS, Greece — European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was in Athens Thursday to discuss Greece’s fiscal reform plans after its international bailout program ends in a few months’ time.

Left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ government has promised lenders it will continue infrastructure privatization and draconian spending controls after the bailout program ends in late August, in exchange for more favourable repayment debt terms.

Juncker’s visit comes a day before Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos is to present Greece’s post-bailout plans at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Sofia, Bulgaria.

“You are coming at a very crucial time and everybody knows that our co-operation is very constructive,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Juncker as they began their meeting in the prime minister’s office.

Earlier, Juncker had met with the country’s president, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, telling him he considers Greece “my second country.”

“Greece, more than anywhere else forged the destiny of Europe,” Juncker said. “So it was inconceivable to me for Greece to leave the eurozone. That was my position as head of the Eurogroup and President of the European Commission.”

Greece has depended on international bailouts since 2010, and has had to push through stringent austerity measures in return. At the height of the crisis Greece repeatedly came to the brink of crashing out of the euro, the common currency used by 19 EU members.