European Council Chief Urges EU Leaders to Keep Greece in Eurozone

President of the European Council Donald Tusk said Sunday Athens should stay in the eurozone and called on the EU leaders to prevent Greece from exiting the single currency.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The remark followed a Saturday meeting of finance ministers from the eurozone in Brussels, aimed at reaching an agreement on financial aid package for Greece before the June 30 deadline of the current bailout program expires. The talks ended without any substantial progress.

Greece is & should remain euro area member. In contact with leaders to ensure integrity of euro area of 19 countries

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) June 27, 2015

The country’s major creditors – the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – made further financial assistance dependent on Greece fulfilling certain demands, in particular implementation of austerity measures and reforms.

On Sunday, the Greek government ratified the prime minister’s proposal on holding a national referendum on July 5 to decide whether to accept the deal offered by the lenders.

Leaders agreed that 40,000 persons in need will be relocated from Greece & Italy to other states over the next 2 years. #migrationEU #EUCO

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) June 26, 2015

Earlier this month, the Bank of Greece said in a report that failure to reach an agreement on the debt issue would lead Greece to a default, possibly triggering the country’s exit from the eurozone and the European Union.