The president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, arrived in Athens to hold talks with newly elected prime minister Alexis Tsipras and initiate contacts between the European Union and the Greek government.

When he arrived, Scultz jokingly chided Tsipras for not wearing a tie, and Tsipras responded by telling him he has always been a friend of Greece.

The president of the European parliament listened to the Greek premier and his proposals for "Greek's exit from the dead end of the crisis and Europe' s liberation from the Greeks to which it will no longer need to provide any money" like deputy premier Yannis Dragassakis put it at the end of the meeting of the economic staff which he coordinates.

Schultz will then meet ex premier and leader of Nea Dimokratia (centre-right) Antonis Samaras, then the leader of To Potàmi Stavros Theodorakis (centre-left) and lastly Pasok leader (Socialist) Evanghelos Venizelos.

"Since Sunday evening Greece is a country with its own proposals. We understand that the other countries also have their own suggestions, their own parliaments and we talk about dialogue, not mutual blackmailing," government Vice President Giannis Dragasakis underlined yesterday while exiting a meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as GreekReporter website writes. 

Asked about yesterday's Athens Stock Exchange "crash" and in particular about the large decline in the banking sector, Dragasakis noted that "we had a lot of crashes in recent years, both in society and the stock market," noting that turbulence comes usually after every government change. "Our concern is the proper functioning of banks," he added.

Answering journalists questions, ahead of the visits from European Parliament President Martin Schulz and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem (Friday), the government Vice President noted that the state will exercise its rights regarding the banks but will not prejudice the interests of private shareholders, adding that "we are open to suggestions." 

In particular, Dragasakis pointed out that the current government does not seek rupture nor the continuation of a "policy that leads to destruction."