French President Hollande supports compromise with Greece based on European rules

Compromise with Greece still needs to be sought, but based on European rules, said French President Francois Hollande after meeting with his Slovak counterpart Andrej Kiska here on Friday.

"We've showed enough understanding in the past for the problems that Greece faces. The time is up, however, and we expect the Greek government to take difficult and necessary decisions for the future of the country," agreed Kiska.

The Slovak president also highlighted the significance of France in the Europe-wide context and praised its interest in events in central and eastern Europe.

"We discussed the migration situation, as well as the ones in Greece and Ukraine," said Kiska, noting that Slovakia and France are in agreement on those issues.

"As far as the issue of refugees goes, we agreed that quotas aren't a solution, but Europe is obligated to express solidarity towards people in need who are fleeing danger and death threats," added Kiska.

Hollande weighed in by saying that part of European values is to help such people; for example, from Iraq, Syria and Eritrea, and that everyone needs to share this task.

Hollande also pointed to economic migration triggered by poverty and misery. According to the French head of state, the task also lies in fighting people smugglers and, based on political collaboration with the home countries of migrants, in engaging in efforts to remove disparities.

Hollande is visiting Slovakia to attend a summit of the prime ministers of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries, which was held to mark the conclusion of Slovakia's presidency of the V4, namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

Hollande last paid an official visit to Slovakia in October 2013. Endit