Highlights of Renzi-Tsipras meeting in Rome

The closely watched Renzi-Tsipras meeting in Rome produced several news-worthy quotes and statements on Tuesday.

The “Eternal City” was the second European capital, after Nicosia, that new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras chose to visit, with an eye towards gaining the support of Italian center-left PM Matteo Renzi.

Earlier, Greek FinMin Yanis Varoufakis was received by his Italian counterpart, with the former outlining a “bridging deal” timeline. Rome has repeatedly cited the need for a “turn” from the current “diktat” of austerity in the eurozone towards a more growth-friendly policy. Tsipras and Co. were banking on translating this position into support for Athens’ announced and soon-to-be-announced proposals.

Next up for Tsipras are meetings with Jean-Claude Juncker and Francois Hollande.

Some of the best “sound bites” were:
This is a message from both mine and Alexis’ generation, said the Italian Prime Minister

-A message of hope against fear
- We may belong to different political families, but we are both inspired by the same ideas
-It is very important for Greece to have a strong link with European institutions
- Grounds for reaching an agreement with the European institutions exist
-Reforms are needed in Greece – We are open to bilateral cooperation
- Europe accuses me of being a dangerous leftist and Italy accuses me of being a dangerous rightist. Perhaps with Alexis’ arrival these accusations will stop.

- Greece and Italy form “cultural superpowers”

- Thanks to both of us, Europe will be able to rediscover itself.

-We need to talk about growth and not just austerity
-We need to talk about culture, education, social cohesion – Although this is a constant battle, we have already seen the first results

-People ask of Europe to turn towards growth – We must fight corruption – Reforms need to be made

- Greece is not faced with crisis – in dialogue with European partners I believe that we will have the opportunity to address the immediate problems

-I am a great fan of the Greek effort

-The basic principle is that rules must be respected, but with flexibility – We must fight for a Europe of growth
- Europe must return to a common vision

On his part, the Greek Prime Minister stressed:

- We need to redefine our basic principles in Europe – we’re glad to help the Italian Prime minister find his political ‘identity’
- Mateo and I belong to the generation that became a target in previous years

-It is our obligation to fight on behalf of our generation

- Social cohesion in Europe must return on development agenda

- Under the new government Greece will work to contribute to necessary policy change
- We must have time to present our plan for the economy, including sweeping reforms
- We shall commit ourselves to the Greek people, to European partners and to future generations, we will not create new deficits

- There are enough divisions in Europe as it is, there is no need to create yet another one between North and South

- Alliance of reason against austerity
- Returning to Europe’s founding values is in our common best interest

-Although I don’t speak the Italian language as yet, Renzi and I can speak the same language

-I remain positive and optimistic that we will be able to convince our European partners

-Our main goal is to enable Greece to meet its debt obligations and not to produce new deficits

- Our positions are well processed – We expect reactions from our partners in order to find a mutually acceptable solution
- Europeans citizens and Europeans creditors have nothing to fear from the new Greek government

Finally, at the end of the meeting the Italian Prime Minister handed the Greek Prime Minister a tie.