Greece presses appeals for rescue fund at EU summit

Greece fully supports the urgent establishment of a recovery fund, in addition to the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which will focus primarily on grants to European Union member-states rather than loans, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed during Thursday's EU leaders summit to discuss the bloc's response to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The video conference took place as Greece announced an extension of the restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus by a week until May 4, amid recent outbreaks at a migrant facility and a private clinic.

Addressing the summit, which again confirmed the divisions between the North and South over the way forward, Mitsotakis said he agreed with the view that the recovery fund should be "huge" and that it should be financed with some kind of common long-term debt instrument. The fund,...