EU commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has warned Greece against electing “extreme forces” into power and said he would prefer “known faces” – so far the strongest intervention of the EU top brass in the Greek campaign.
“I think that the Greeks – who have a very difficult life – know very well what a wrong election result would mean for Greece and the eurozone,” Juncker said during an Austrian public tv debate with EUobserver and several other Brussels-based journalists.
He steered clear of explicit political advice ahead of presidential elections in Greece next week but said: “I wouldn’t like extreme forces to come to power.”
The presidential elections – to be held in the Greek parliament on 17 December – could trigger early parliamentary elections, if there are three failed attempts to elect a president.
The far-left Syriza, which wants Greece’s debt erased and an end to austerity measures, is topping the polls. Markets are already jittery at the prospect of Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras coming to power.
Asked if Syriza and Tsipras qualify as “extreme forces”, Juncker replied: “I would like Greece to be ruled by people who have an eye and a heart for the many little people in Greece and who also understand the necessity of European processes.”
#Juncker: #Greece should avoid 'wrong outcome' in elections – Democracy can be such a bitch – http://t.co/hsfScYtMDN
— Bruno Tersago (@BrunoTersago) 12 december 2014