New PM says Greece will not default on its debtsJanuary 28, 2015 - 14:06 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - New Greek PM Alexis Tsipras says his country will not default on its debts, BBC News reports. Addressing his first cabinet meeting since being elected on Sunday, the left-wing Syriza party leader said he would negotiate with creditors over the €240bn ( $270bn) bailout. Saying his first priority was to help those in need, Tsipras promised "realistic proposals" for an economic recovery and vowed to fight corruption. The EU has warned his government to stick to its creditor commitments. As the newly-elected leader of the radical left party made his inaugural cabinet speech, Greek 10-year bond yield rose above 10% - reflecting investors' concerns about short-term risks of a debt restructuring over the coming months. "We won't get into a mutually destructive clash but we will not continue a policy of subjection," Tsipras told the televised cabinet meeting. The troika of lenders that bailed out Greece - the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - imposed big budgetary cuts and restructuring in return for the money. Vowing to defend Greek dignity, Tsipras said a renegotiation of the Greek debts would be in search of "a viable, fair, mutually beneficial solution". He did not give any details. His recovery plan - involving reform and changes, in addition to fighting tax evasion - was aimed at preventing deficits in the future. The Greek government's chief economics spokesman, Euclid Tsakalotos, has argued that it is unrealistic to expect Greece to repay its huge debt in full. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine |