EU Wants to Bring Greece to Knees by Imposing Strict Reforms - Lawmaker

A lawmaker of the ruling Syriza party claims that the refusal of creditors to accept Athens' proposals on debt settlement, demonstrates that the European Union wants to bring Greece to its knees by imposing strict economic reforms.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The refusal of creditors to accept Athens' proposals on debt settlement, demonstrates that the European Union wants to bring Greece to its knees by imposing strict economic reforms, a lawmaker of the ruling Syriza party told Sputnik Tuesday.

"The refusal of [its] creditors to accept Greece's offer shows that the issue is not just about the money. With its pressure on Greece, the European Union wants to bring the country to its knees, wants to impose an unacceptable package of tough reforms," Sia Anagnostopoulou said.

The Greek lawmaker added that the decision to hold a referendum on whether to accept the creditors' proposals was "the only right decision given the position of the creditors, which is far from the spirit of compromise."

Greece's aggregate debt exceeds $350 billion, of which $270 billion is owed to the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Eurozone countries.

By midnight on Tuesday, Greece was due to transfer its next $1.7-billion loan repayment to the IMF, before the current aid package expires.

However, earlier in the day, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said that Greece did not intend to make the IMF payment, which puts the country on the verge of default.

On Saturday, Athens announced a July 5 referendum to ask voters to decide whether to accept a new bailout deal offered by the country's international creditors in exchange for unpopular austerity measures.