EP president highlights "growth and employment" in Greek debt crisis

The European Parliament (EP) president Martin Schulz said on Friday that "plans for growth and employment and the fight against the social drama" in Greece were necessary in the next four months.

He made the remarks at the press conference with the visiting Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

He said that the EP was prepared to discuss with the Greek government and the European Commission without delay to mobilize money out of the Youth Guarantee for the fight against youth unemployment in Greece.

Moreover, he proposed that the three parties could create a Greek-specific investment and growth plan, with a sustainable growth and employment strategy for the next for months.

The Greek prime minister said that he considered it the right moment to discuss about the future, adding that, with 60 percent unemployment for young people, there is no future.

"So I think that the strong message from our discussion here in Brussels is that now it's time to give a message to the Greek people, a hope message...that the European institutions will give help and solidarity with particular ways in order to overcome this very bad situation in the social level," said Tsipras.

Tsipras also held a meeting with the European Commission (EC) president Jean-Claude Juncker earlier in the day, who said he was "not satisfied with the developments in recent weeks" over Greece bailout talks.

Under a deal achieved last month, the four-year Greek bailout which expired on Feb. 28 was extended for four months, giving Greece and its international creditors more time to reach a final deal on the Greek debt crisis. Endit