ATHENS, May 29 -- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras welcomed his Estonian counterpart Juri Ratas in Athens on Monday, where they discussed the challenges of the upcoming Estonia's Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
"We had an opportunity to discuss the Estonian presidency's priorities with the Greek prime minister. The bilateral relations between Greece and Estonia as EU member-states and NATO allies are very good," Ratas said in an e-mailed press release issued by the Greek PM's office.
The Estonian leader expressed his certainty that the role of the presidency was to seek a common denominator and the optimum balance between the various sides and forces in the EU.
"We have many challenges ahead of us, the refugee crisis, the recovery from economic instability, but also terrorism," Ratas said, asking the support of Greece and all EU member states to join forces for a better, safer and more prosperous common future.
On his part, Tsipras said that Estonia was taking over the EU presidency at a time presenting serious challenges, including the need to build a new vision.
"This new vision can only be built on a stable Eurozone," Tsipras highlighted in order that Europe and especially Greece that was affected dramatically the past years to exit from the economic crisis.
"We hope for a solution within June, before Estonia takes over the presidency for a final settlement on a reduction of the Greek debt," Tsipras said during a joint press conference with Ratas, according to Greek national news agency AMNA.
Both leaders also expressed their concern over the Cyprus issue and the refugee crisis.
"We agreed that the Cyprus issue is not a bilateral issue, but it is a European issue," Tsipras said.
"This means that European leaders must be fully informed and ensure over the next period that we have the best possible developments -- that dialogue is still open for substantive steps to be taken," he added.