Tsipras to Amanpour: “We don’t want Greece outside the euro…”

Leading Greek political party chair Alexis Tsipras  joined CNN International’s Christiane Amanpour for the Wednesday, May 16 edition of Amanpour.   Tsipras spoke of Greece’s commitment to the euro zone and rejected Germany’s demands for Greece to continue its austerity measures as putting the eurozone “in a big danger.”  This is an excerpt from that interview :

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, HOST OF “AMANPOUR”:  Mr. Tsipras, thank you for joining me from Athens.  Mrs. Merkel has said you either do the reform and the austerity or you are out of the euro. Do you think that the German chancellor is bluffing?

ALEXIS TSIPRAS, PRESIDENT, SYRIZA PARTY:  I don’t know what Mrs. — Madam Merkel wants to do.  But I know what we want to do.  We don’t want Greece outside — outside Europe.  We don’t want Greece outside — outside the euro.  We don’t want Greece outside the Eurozone.  We want Greece inside euro and inside Eurozone.

But I — we feel that Madam Merkel puts euro and Eurozone in a big danger by keeping we — in these austerity measures.  The austerity measures put Europe and the Eurozone in a big danger.

So we want to change the austerity measures, also in Greece and also in Europe.  That’s what we want to do and we want to do this with — in cooperation with the other forces and the — the — the people of — of Europe, the people who want a big change, because everybody now, at this time that, with this policy, we are going directly to the hell.  And we want to change this — this way.

Amanpour airs weekdays on CNN International at 3:00pm with a replay at 5:00pm Eastern in the U.S.  and at 21:00 CET, with a replay at 23:00 CET.  The full transcript for this program will be posted here later today.

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