Tsipras: 'We want the creative participation of the Greeks diaspora in political affairs'

"We want to include the Greeks of the diaspora creatively in the political affairs of the country; we want their vote and the election of their representatives in the Greek Parliament. But we do not wish to divide the Greeks living abroad, depending on which party they support," SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said on Friday in Parliament.

The main opposition leader said he urged the prime minister to "change course" in order to find a common ground, to reach consensus and not to divide the Greeks of the diaspora. Tsipras stressed that "the big institutional changes require broad consensus and, above all, a synthesis between the parties that are central to the governance of the country." Any other option, he added, would be a choice of "political and institutional deviation, from which no side will win."

SYRIZA's leader tabled his party's proposal for expatriate voting and said he was open to "discuss any other proposal that might facilitate voting by Greek voters abroad", while setting a "single" requirement: "Do not attempt to engage expatriates in games of petty party politics, with the secret and underhand aim of altering political balances in the interior of the country."

Following their meeting, Tsipras called on Mitsotakis "to finally demand that sanctions be imposed on Turkey, which was a decision that we succeeded in extracting from the previous European Summit, together with [Cyprus] President [Nicos] Anastasiades."