Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, during joint statements with the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels, expressed Greece’s political will in order for a solution to the Greek issue to be found soon.

Greece relies on tourism for its economy and must protect its beaches through a policy directly linked to managing garbage and household waste, head of the European Commission office in Greece Panos Karvounis said on Thursday, during a one-day meeting of the Mediterranean SOS Network (MedSOS), an Athens-based NGO.

The demarche made to the German government by Greece was not based on a misinterpretation, Foreign Ministry spokesman Konstantinos Koutras said on Thursday, in response to a German journalist’s question on the issue.

Greece on Friday paid 348 million euros for the repayment of the second part of the loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that falls due this March, following a decision by the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA).