Direct Speech, Economics, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Latvia

Vilks reminded that this ''Greek tragedy'' has been ongoing for many years. He said that the Baltics were successful in working hard to straighten out its finances in two years, while Greece has not been able to do this in seven years.

Vilks guessed that the attitude of the Greek people towards the EU conditions are ''half and half'' at the moment, but they will most likely vote against the conditions set out by the international lenders.

''This is too complicated a matter to let the people decide,'' Vilks said, adding that the Greek government should have stepped up and made the necessary political decisions themselves.

The former finance minister, who led Latvia out of its economic crisis, believes that European leaders have for years been too lenient towards Greece's light-minded financial policies, and only now are making some kind of decisions to finally restrict the country's actions. ''The Greeks themselves wish to lay all the blame of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but the EU is still looking for the best possible solution,'' he said.

Vilks believes that Greece's financial collapse should not substantially impact Europe's economy. ''We must also look for ways to distance Greece from other Southern European economies,'' he added.

The former Latvian finance minister also emphasized that European leaders must act, as backing down to the populist Greek government could lead to other populists being elected in other countries, who will also attempt to avoid repaying their debts.