Greece asked European leaders for a three-year bailout loan on Wednesday. But Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras, who didn’t propose any specific economic reforms in return for the loan, faced harsh criticism from the European Parliament. Parliament member Guy Verhofstadt (a former Prime Minister of Belgium) delivered a scathing speech, exhorting Tsipras to work with the EU Parliament.
“I am angry because you are talking about reforms, but we never see concrete proposals of reforms,” Verhofstadt said. “I’m angry because we are sleep walking towards a Grexit.”
Verhofstadt urged Tsipras to propose a specific economic reform plan, and asked him if he wanted to be remembered as an electoral accident who made his people poorer, or as a real reformer. “Eighty percent of your people want to stay in Europe and in the Eurozone," Verhofstadt concluded. “Show that you are a real leader and not a false prophet. Do it!”
