EU Wants Greece to Stay in Eurozone and Respect Commitments - Spanish PM

© REUTERS / Alkis KonstantinidisPeople make their way in central Syntagma Square as the parliament building is pictured in the background in Athens
People make their way in central Syntagma Square as the parliament building is pictured in the background in Athens - Sputnik International
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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy hopes Europe will avoid 'Grexit', and Athens will fulfill its austerity commitments.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Union wants Greece to stay in the Eurozone, but calls on its government to stick to the austerity commitments it made, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Monday.

"The EU is and will be in solidarity with Greece, we do not want it to leave the Eurozone. But like everyone else, they must respect their commitments," Rajoy wrote on his Twitter page.

Greece has borrowed a total of 240 billion euros ($265 billion) under two aid packages from the European Union, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the so-called troika of international creditors, in exchange for austerity measures being imposed upon the country.

However, following its January victory in the Greek elections, the leftist Syriza party announced it would abandon its austerity obligations.

The Greek, left, and EU flag flap in the wind - Sputnik International
Nein: Poll Shows 50% of Germans Want Greece Out of Eurozone
Last Thursday, Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, said he could not 'rule out' the possibility of Greece leaving the Eurozone. A day after Schaeuble's statement EU financial commissioner Pierre Moscovici told Der Spiegel that Greece's possible exit from the Eurozone would lead to a catastrophe not only for the Greek economy but also for the entire Eurozone.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Mannheim Research Group's Politbarometer, over 50 percent of people in Germany would like to see a Grexit.

Greece and Eurozone finance ministers reached an agreement in February to extend the bailout to July. The new deal requires Greece to carry out all remaining creditor-mandated reforms before it can receive another aid installment of about 7.2 billion euros ($7.9 billion).

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