PM Tsipras on Open TV: Former leaders led Greece to loan memoranda

Three former prime ministers of Greece "bear great responsibility for the country's bankruptcy, and later on for the country's selloff," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said during an interview on Open TV channel on Thursday night.

Referring to Costas Karamanlis, Giorgos Papandreou and Antonis Samaras, Tsipras said the first one "opened the door" to loan memoranda, the second one "lived in a world of his own" and thought there's enough money, and Samaras plundered society and raised unemployment. He said that history will judge him, but added that "I succeeded, whereas they failed."

The premier also accused the main opposition of a costly electoral campaign. "Where does this money come from, when the party owes 280 million euros and pays zero?," he said, referring to the outstanding loans Greek political parties have.

Focusing on the general elections on July 7, the PM said that it would be possible to gain the votes lost in the European elections. Comparing the result to the 2014 elections when his party SYRIZA got 26 pct of the vote, he said his party then rose by 10 percentage points to win elections in 2015. "Arithmetic-wise, it's entirely doable to cover the difference of 500,000 votes," he said. "It depends on voter turnout, how many and who will vote".