Juncker says ‘fought hard’ to prevent Grexit in 2015

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said he “fought hard” in 2015 to prevent a Greek exit from the bloc’s common currency area out of fear it could unravel the euro.

“If the Commission had not ensured that Greece was not expelled from the eurozone in 2015, the balance would be less good,” the EU’s chief executive said in an interview with Politico published Thursday.

“At the time, I fought hard for the stability of the Eurogroup, in particular for Greece [against the wishes of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble]. If I hadn’t done that, the eurozone would have decayed,” Juncker said.