On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Greece’s ill-fated referendum on whether citizens would accept or reject the EU’s bailout offer, the chief spokesman of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, was asked to comment on the anniversary and on the political skirmishes in Greece regarding the form and extent of post-bailout surveillance.

“You will not find many people in this building who are nostalgic for the first six months of 2015. Here at the Commission, we prefer to look forward and not back. The Greek people with their sacrifices have been voting for eight years for the country to remain in the euro,” Schinas said.

President Juncker and the Commission are proud that they contributed to that, and they will continue to support Greece and its return to development and employment,” Schinas added.

As regards the Greek programme that ends on 20 August, the Eurogroup took its decisions on 21 June, which determine the parameters of the enhanced surveillance in the post-memorandum period,” Schinas underlined.