Tsipras receives Southern European leaders for Mediterranean summit

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will on Friday in Athens meet with leaders from the southern European Union (EU) countries in a summit that is expected to draw greater attention to the needs and common issues shared by Mediterranean states.

The summit is attended by state leaders from France, Italy, Portugal, Malta and Cyprus, while Spain will be represented by the EU Secretary of State Fernando Eguidazu, since the Spanish acting Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, could not attend in his capacity.

In an interview with Le Monde newspaper on the eve of the summit, Tsipras stressed that the goal of the summit is not to create new divisions between North and South, but to promote a common approach in favor of the Mediterranean nations most affected by the crisis, and in addition to stop the disintegration of Europe.

Tsipras added that the group of countries has collective problems that can only be solved with collective solutions.

These problems include the refugee crisis, the economic crisis and the crisis of security against terrorism.

Just one week before the summit of EU leaders in Bratislava, the leftist leader made it clear that his intention is not to open new divisions, and stressed that what Europe needs after Brexit is to go ahead with the deepening of EU.