Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today assured parliament that Malta will not accept any debt ‘haircut’ proposals from Greece.

“There is no way Greece’s debts will be forgiven,” an adamant Dr Muscat said.

Briefing parliament on yesterday’s eurozone meeting which tackled the Greek debt crisis, Dr Muscat said that the result of the Greek referendum changed the political scenario in Greece. He said the referendum result has strengthened the hand of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras but weakened the “Greek cause” since it "antagonised other European countries".

This prompted PN leader Simon Busuttil to say that the Greek people could not expect any financial haircuts when it was out celebrating the referendum result, “despite the fact that it had all the right to celebrate a referendum result”.

Dr Muscat went on to say that as a result of the referendum, the position of the Greek government has become much harder than ever.

“The situation of the economy in Greece in these last two weeks also changed... to the worse,” Dr Muscat said.

He continued: “We have been hearing about the urgent situation in Greece and came across scenarios of people queuing in front of bank ATMs, apart from the fact that pensioners were crying their eyes out.

“The least one expected is for the Greek government to emerge with a request,” Dr Muscat said, referring to a request – not yet formal – being made by the Greek government.

“I cannot seem to understand why the Greek government made a request so late in the day when it had all the time in the world to do so yesterday,” Dr Muscat lamented.

“Yesterday’s meeting was a sheer waste of time or time which could have been utilised better.

“If there will be a basis for an agreement, this proposal will be discussed by the euro group.

“As for humanitarian aid, a decision will be taken by all eurozone members,” Dr Muscat said.

Dr Busuttil said that the referendum result ties down the Greek government and its people and should not tie us down. If it were the case, a referendum would have to be held in Malta. Dr Busuttil called on the Prime Minister to safeguard Malta’s interests.

“In 2010, when Malta started to help Greece out, we were a poor country when compared to Greece but we still helped them out.

“Although Greece suffered a financial collapse it is richer than certain countries such as Bulgaria or Romania for instance.

“One cannot expect the Greeks to wave their flags to celebrate the referendum result and then expect a haircut.

“The Opposition is strongly against any proposals that Greece’s debts are forgiven,” Dr Busuttil said.

Dr Muscat said that parliament always voted unanimously to help Greece out financially, adding that he has no doubt that the situation is still the same today.

EU has plan B for Greek exit - Muscat

Dr Muscat said that the EU has a plan B in place in the event Greece exits the eurozone. Sunday is the deadline for Greece’s exit from the eurozone, he explained.

He said that in the event Greece was to exit the eurozone, the money Malta lent Greece won’t be lost.

“When Greek is back in business, the money will start to be paid however there are risks,” Dr Muscat said.