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Majority of French Citizens Want Greece to Stay in Euro

22 June 2015 03:48 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Over a half of those polled in France want debt-ridden Greece to stay in the single currency euro, a survey published Sunday by France’s Journal du DimanchÐµ showed, APA reports quoting Sputnik.

This is a sudden change of heart after 73 percent of the French said in 2011 they wanted Athens to quit the 19-nation Eurozone, according to the outlet.

The survey, conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion, found that 53 percent of respondents now wished that Greece would not go, compared to 46 percent that did not mind a Grexit.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin told the paper in a Sunday interview that the French voted this way because "they want stability and growth. They also realize that Greeks have suffered enormously and travelled three-fourths of the way, and it will be a tragedy if they won’t be able to finish it."

"That’s why so many people want to keep Greece in the euro family," he concluded.

Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is due to meet Monday with EU leaders and international creditors in Brussels after the European Union called for an emergency EU summit last week. The negotiators have until the end of June to hammer out a deal that would prevent Athens from defaulting on its IMF debt and quitting the euro area.