26th January, 2015
France’s President Francois Hollande congratulated Alexis Tsipras on his radical left party Syriza’s victory in Greek elections Sunday, the French presidency said in an statement.
The French president recalled “the friendship that unites France and Greece and expressed his desire to Mr Tsipras to continue the close cooperation between our two countries, to support the growth and stability of the eurozone, in the spirit of progress, solidarity and responsibility that is at the heart of our shared European values,” the statement said.
The Greeks on Sunday handed a clear victory to Syriza, “making history” and “leaving austerity behind” them, said Tsipras, the first European leader elected on a platform of explicitly rejecting the harsh policies imposed by the EU and its members.
Tsipras has vowed a raft of anti-austerity pledges including renegotiating the terms of Greece’s 240-billion-euro ($269 billion) bailout with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, raising the minimum wage and increasing pensions for the poorest.