Greek coalition government welcomed by EPP

The President of the European People's Party (EPP) Wilfried Martens has congratulated the formation of the three-party coalition government in Greece led by Nea Demokratia (ND) President Antonis Samaras.

Samaras has now become the 16^th EPP Prime Minister in the European Council.

The ND-Pasok-Dimar government will have a 179 seat majority in the 300 member parliament

"I warmly congratulate my good friend Antonis Samaras for successfully concluding the negotiations to form a strong and stable government. The three parties that comprise the coalition government, were able to set aside ideological differences and to agree on a common, pro-European programme which will keep Greece safely anchored in the Eurozone," Martens said.

He added that when considering that Greece has no political tradition of coalition governments, he was "particularly impressed" by the speed in which Samaras concluded the coalition negotiations.

"I sincerely hope that Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his government will be equally successful in bringing Greece out of the crisis and on the path of economic growth."

Martens added that he looked to forward to welcoming Samaras on June 28 during the EPP Summit of heads of state and government.