EP-President Martin Schulz on Greek elections: time to break deadlock

European Parliament President Martin Schulz made the following statement on the results on parliamentary elections in Greece:

 "I welcome the results of the general elections in Greece. The results show a broad and clear support in favour of Greece staying in the euro zone.

I salute the efforts of the Greek people to overcome the crisis. They have made great sacrifices. I hope the burden of the reforms will be spread more equally to achieve greater social justice.

I hope that Greece will rapidly form a government that breaks the political deadlock and pursues the required reforms to overhaul the economy and Greek public finances. The Greek people deserve a stable and prosperous future.

I congratulate Antonis Samaras and his New Democracy party for winning the elections and I encourage the Greek political forces to form a responsible coalition government in the coming days.

I am particularly pleased with New Democracy's declaration that they will broadly stick to commitments Greece has made to the European Union.

The new Greek government will be able to count on our constructive cooperation in possible fine-tuning of its reform strategy and economic targets.  If Greece sticks to its commitments, the EU can examine what could be done further to solve the crisis."