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Many European taxpayers are angry at Greece because they believe that the money allocated from the so-called rescue mechanisms was spent in the real economy, for salaries and pensions. You have to understand that not a single euro from these funds was spent for salaries and pensions. Especially now, when the special account for payment of debt obligations has been opened, all money goes to repay the interest and principal. Those who first benefit from the "rescue" of Greece are Greek banks, because their main shareholders will escape bankruptcy without giving a dime. Second are our lenders, who provide assistance with profit. Deutsche Bank, for example, profits from the aid to Greece due to the difference in the interest rates. This is a legal speculation.

We think things should change at European level, because the problem of Greece is a European problem. All countries with huge debt in the Union have the same problems. Our purpose in the event that we win the elections is to make the European Central Bank directly grant low-interest loans to the countries in the Union, rather than giving money to private banks, which are credited at 1% interest and lend to the country at interest rates of 4%-5% and higher.

So, do you mean that the European Central Bank should finance the budgets of the member states?

We want it to directly fund the state, public projects and public investments.

This is quite a change in the role of the European Central Bank. Do you think there are grounds for requiring something like this from Europe?

If you had asked me this question a month or two ago, I would answer you "no". Today, the political picture of many countries in Europe is quite different. It is not just that SYRIZA in Greece received 17% of the vote and is striving to govern. In Romania, the centre-right government fell and the new prime minister, who is a social democrat, is now renegotiating the terms of the loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. After pressure from the people, François Hollande was elected president of France, who was forced to promise that he would tax the largest capital in the country with 75%. In Ireland, the financial recovery programme was subject to a referendum ...

Let us go back to Greece. SYRIZA is "for" the euro as a currency and "against" the Memorandum for financial aid and the measures, it brings. Signals from Brussels are indicating that the two go together. How do you plan to keep Greece in the cheap currency without the Memorandum?

I would like to correct you and say that only some circles in Brussels are sending similar signals. Romano Prodi, a former European Commission president and the head of the board of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker said clearly, "1. Let the Greek citizens make their choice 2. Greece’s exit from the euro area would be disastrous and 3. Let us see what can be done with the austerity measures." Furthermore, Charles Dallara, who heads the International Institute of Finance (IIF) and is the leader of one of the largest financial lobbies in the world, said that it would be a disaster if Greece exits the euro. Other voices saying, "Europe can do without Greece" are already a minority. Therefore, I say that the political atmosphere of Europe has changed. Furthermore, the existing legal framework of Europe does not provide for a member state to forcibly leave the eurozone. The only way for a country to leave the eurozone is if it itself wishes to.

Assuming that the eurozone is a football team, how do you imagine allowing one player (Greece) to run in a direction opposite to that of the remaining ten teammates? In other words, do you not think the euro zone will find a way to make Greece leave the union, although there is no established procedure for such an action?

If Greece were a football team, we would try to change the coach on 17 June because it did not work out with the current government. Furthermore, not all the players in the team are seeking the same goal. Some players in the euro area team are playing to speculate and profit. There are other players, who are the majority and are struggling at present. In Greece, 1.2 million people have no work, 25% of the citizens live below the poverty line and the number of homeless and suicides are dramatically increasing. We are with these players, not with Mr. Latsis (Eurobank), Samas (Piraeus) and with other bankers.

So, the euro is not the best solution for Greece.

No, the solution for Greece is in the euro area, because we know very well that returning to the drachma at this time will mean a continuing need for currency devaluation. In this case, two groups of people will benefit – the wealthy Greeks who have exported their money abroad and some big exporters. The wealthy will await the return of the drachma to buy public property for a piece of bread, and big exporters will gain from lower competitive prices that the new currency will impose. Ordinary people, however, will sink in irreversible poverty because wages and pensions will never be able to rise to offset the constant devaluation of the currency. That is why we do not want to exit the eurozone.