Greek situation exposes "crack in EU foundation" - Matviyenko
MOSCOW. July 7 (Interfax) - Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko has said the European Union's actions towards Greece have exposed "a crack in the foundation" of the Union.
"The EU is pursuing a tough policy based on a premise that loans should be paid off at the expense of social payouts. But no one took the trouble to generate such funds into the national economy so that later Greece could pay off the loans and credits given to it," Matviyenko told reporters.
In her view, the practice the EU pursues towards Greece by issuing loans in detriment to economic development exposes, in the case of Greece, "a crack in the (EU) foundation."
"The point is that the Greek government cannot decide on its own what money it can use to pay off the loans. The EU must have single standards for social guarantees: pensions and salaries," Matviyenko said.
"After the referendum held in Greece the government led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won public support, and it is this support that Greece will take to its talks with the EU and I think these talks will resume and be held constructively," she said.
"I understand the position of this country's population which expressed its opposition to further belt-tightening in a situation where the county's economy is not growing. At the same time, most of the country's population is opposed to Greece's exit from the EU and the eurozone," the speaker said.
