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.