Spanish Parliament to Vote on Greek Bailout Deal - PM Rajoy

Mariano Rajoy praised the Greek government's decision to negotiate with creditors despite the "No"-vote at the referendum.

MADRID (Sputnik) — The Spanish parliament will have to approve a new program of financial aid for Greece, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Wednesday.

On Monday, the leaders of the Eurozone countries reached an agreement on a new bailout for Greece, which prescribes austerity reforms in exchange for some 86 billion euro ($95 billion) of financial aid.

Before the lower house of the Spanish parliament, Rajoy said:

"Europe has always been ready to support Greece in the framework of the community's law and in accordance with the decisions on economic policy of the monetary union. That is the position of Spain."

Rajoy added that it was necessary to hold a vote on the deal between the Eurogroup and Greece in the Spanish parliament, despite the fact that such a procedure is not mandatory in the country.

Rajoy expressed hope for a positive outcome to the Greek crisis, and noted that the Greek government had demonstrated "wisdom and accountability" by resuming negotiations with its creditors after the country's electorate rejected proposals for austerity reforms in a referendum.

Greece owes some $270 billion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and Eurozone countries and is unable to repay its current debt without additional funds from external creditors.