Germany FM urges Athens to continue tough reforms

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has urged Greece to continue its tough reforms needed to correct the country’s economy.

Steinmeier’s comments came after a meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in the capital Athens on Friday during a two-day state visit to the debt-stricken country.

The German foreign minister also commended the Greek government for its efforts in improving the country’s economy.

However, a day earlier following talks with Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos, Steinmeier also said that “Greece has a long road ahead in order for it to come out of the economic crisis.”

The German foreign minister also stated that the Greek government has other pressing issues that remained unsolved, including the country’s youth unemployment, which reached a staggering 57.9 percent in October last year.

In addition, the overall unemployment hit a record 27.8 percent in October 2013, which is more than double the eurozone’s average of 12.1 percent in the same month.

Greece has been at the epicenter of the eurozone debt crisis and is experiencing its sixth year of recession, while harsh austerity measures have left tens of thousands of people without jobs.

The long-drawn-out eurozone debt crisis, which began in Greece in late 2009 and reached Italy, Spain, and France in 2011, is viewed as a threat not only to Europe but also to many other developed economies in the world.