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Austrian chancellor urges for compromise deal on Greek debt

Xinhua, June 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann urged Greece and its international lenders to reach a compromise deal to tackle the Greek debt crisis during an official visit on Wednesday.

However, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned Greece was ready to say no in case creditors insisted on "incomprehensible" demands for austerity measures.

The Austrian leader sent a message of solidarity with Greek people who are suffering after six years of recession.

"In the coming days, I will support any proposal that could lead to a compromise," Faymann said on Wednesday in joint statements to the press after a meeting with Tsipras and Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

Waymann appeared confident on Wednesday that a deal could be achieved by the next EU summit on June 25-26 in Brussels.

On June 30, Greece needs to repay 1.5 billion euros (1.69 billion U.S. dollars) in loan installments to the International Monetary Fund. If it fails to cover its obligations for a second time in a month, the countdown to bankruptcy could start.

On his part, Tsipras claimed that the Greek side has made several concessions and reiterated a call to lenders to review "illogical" requests in order to reach a viable agreement.

"If Europe sticks with this incomprehensible insistence (on further austerity measures), and the political leadership insists, then they should assume the cost of a development which will not be beneficial for anybody in Europe. The Greek government does not wish that. The Greek government wants an honest compromise and a viable deal, as I told the chancellor," Tsipras said.

The Greek leader warned that Athens was ready to say a "big no" to a final unacceptable draft deal and played down scenarios of elections or a referendum in the coming weeks.

"We have only one option and that is to find a solution that will be accepted and passed by the government and the parliament. In a different case, the government and the parliament will once again take the decision. If we do not have an honorable compromise, we will once again say the big no," Tsipras underlined. Endit