Government issues clarifications on Feb. 20 agreement and national reform plan

The government stressed there would be no recessionist measures and called for the understanding and support of the Greek society.

According to the statement, the memorandum ended on January 25 and the new Greek government signed for an extension of the loan agreement based on the Eurogroup decision of February 20. Negotiations are taking place on the basis of reforms proposed by the Greek side, and they do not include recessionary measures or measures of reduced pensions and wages or measures that will further throw the labour market off track.

"If we had signed to continue the memorandum, then what would the purpose of negotiations be?," it asked, adding that "the new government would have continued to apply whatever the previous government had bequeathed it. It is obvious something like that cannot be done - on the contrary." It cited laws that it had voted to deal with the humanitarian crisis and the overdue debts, in contrast to the previous finance minister's intentions.

Referring to the previous prime minister, the government said that Antonis Samaras "in essence is doing what the technical experts began doing when they came to Athens.

Despite the decision of February 20 - which does not say anything about the completion of 'the current programme' - Samaras and the technical experts thought that on January 25 absolutely nothing changed in the country."

This is why, the government said, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sent the letter to European leaders to meet on the sidelines of the EU Summit in Brussels, "to clarify the content of the February 20 decision. And that is exactly what happened." If the main opposition, the government said, "wants to contribute to the effort of the government to give the Greek society a breather, it would be best if it does not try, even through rhetoric, to mix the country up in the memorandum past - the power of habit is understandable, and the weakness of the opposition is understandable." "In the significant days ahead of us, we are asking for the support of Greek society in the struggle for dignity, prosperity and social justice," it concluded.