Tsipras Says Greece's Main Goal to Remain in Eurozone

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Greek government’s main goal is to remain in the Eurozone and find an all-European solution to the country’s financial problems, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Thursday.

Speculations about Greece’s possible exit from the eurozone monetary union started back in 2012 amid the country’s financial crisis. As Greek financial problems persisted and even intensified, in 2015 discussions about Greece’s exit from the eurozone surfaced again.

However, during his speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Tsipras assured that Greece wants to remain in the Eurozone.

“Our government’s goal is that Greece remains in the Eurozone and we are searching for an all-European solution for this task.”

Greece's anti-austerity Syriza party, headed by Tsipras, came to power in January with a pledge to revise the country's bailout terms dictated by the troika of international creditors, comprising the European Union, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The bailout standoff has created great uncertainty regarding Greece's future in the eurozone.

Greece's total debt to the troika of international creditors currently stands at around $270 billion.

In February, the country's new left-wing government promised to pursue economic reforms after Athens and eurozone finance ministers agreed to extend the bailout deal until late June 2015.