Lithuania favours Greece staying in eurozone

This position was formulated on Friday by the Lithuanian parliament’s committees on European affairs and foreign affairs.

“Our position, our mandate to the president is that Lithuania is interested in Greece staying in the eurozone, but a decision has to be adopted as quickly as possible,” Gediminas Kirkilas, head of the Committee on European Affairs, told reporters after a joint meeting of the committees.

The discussion revealed differing opinions among the lawmakers and, therefore, they were asked to vote on Lithuania’s position.

“There was a discussion on whether Lithuania supports Greece remaining in the eurozone and we voted. An absolute majority voted in favour, but there were several dissenting votes,” Kirkilas, a Social Democrat, said.

Conservative MP Kęstutis Masiulis, who was among those who voted against the proposal, said that both Greece and EU leaders were making mistakes while trying to find an acceptable solution.

“The situation reminds me of a family whose son is a drug addict. His mother is trying to arrange money for the son because she believes that he will use it to pay back his debts rather than buy his next dose of drugs,” he said.

Kirkilas said that Greece was asking for around 53 billion euros in financial assistance from the EU and that there was no mention of a debt relief.