Canada’s government has responded with cautious optimism to the results of the Greek election — signaling that it wants the newly-elected government to keep the country in the euro while also moving forward with plans to get its debt under control.
The message came late Sunday night from senior Canadian officials accompanying Prime Minister Stephen Harper to the G20 summit.
“The prime minister welcomes the result in Greece today,” Harper’s director of communications, Andrew MacDougall, told a media briefing.
“Obviously, it was a result that avoids an immediate crisis in the eurozone. And so we are encouraged by the result and look forward to working with the new Greek government in whatever way we can.”
Harper arrived at this ocean side resort Sunday evening. Before he left Ottawa, it appeared that the conservative New Democracy party was leading in the Greek election.
Six hours later, by the time Harper’s plane touched down in Mexico, it was confirmed that the party, led by Antonis Samaras, had finished first.
Harper huddled with his senior policy advisers to discuss the election results and the likely ramifications on the European debt crisis that has been intensifying in recent months.
“It’s good (and) in the interest of stability of Europe and the global economy,” said MacDougall.
“Canada obviously wants to see Greece in the eurozone and to avoid the kind of catastrophic event that was avoided today.”
“Nobody is under any illusions here. Yes, there is a lot of work to do. And there still are challenges that remain.”
“The result today could have been obviously worse in terms of the eurozone’s stability and cohesiveness,” said MacDougall.
He said the election now allows the Greeks to continue to work on devising a plan to control its debt.
“Greece has committed to reforms in return for receiving assistance from the eurozone. So that can now progress.”
“They’ve obviously pledged their commitment to do those kinds of things. The governments in place there have committed to austerity and have committed to reducing their expenditure.”
G7 finance ministers also released a statement Sunday in reaction to the election results.
“We look forward to working with the next government of Greece, and believe that it is in all our interests for Greece to remain in the Euro area while respecting its commitments,” said the prepared statement.
“We welcome the commitment of the Euro Area to work in partnership with the next Greek government to ensure they remain on the path to reform and sustainability within the Euro Area.”
(source: canada)
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