Greece hosts 'Club Med' summit

As the leaders of France, Italy, Portugal, Malta and Cyprus descended on the Greek capital for brief talks about their respective nations' struggles with migration and austerity, the Greek prime minister said it was time they banded together to push through their own agendas on a European level.

"What unites us are our common sea and common problems, and faith in a European vision," Tsipras said as the discussions began. "Our countries have in recent years been disproportionately affected by the economic crisis… and are on the front line of migratory flows."

Portugal does not lie on the Mediterranean, but the group of southern European countries is at times referred to as "Club Med."

Tsipras is concerned unfavorable developments in Europe, such as economic stagnation, the rise of far-right populist parties and increasing anti-EU sentiment, could have a disproportionately adverse effect on the countries invited to the meeting.

If anti-immigrant politicians in the rest of Europe manage to block more migrants from traveling north, or send them back to places like Greece or Italy, it would place an undue burden on infrastructure that is already over capacity.

More growth, please

Tsipras also urged European leaders to promote more pro-growth policies, saying it would be "a huge mistake to see growth as a process that creates deficits."

Meanwhile, a conservative lawmaker back in Germany, Manfred Weber, called on Athens to deliver on promised reforms under its third bailout. Weber chairs the European People's Party Group in the European parliament.

At another meeting of European leaders in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday, finance ministers from across the bloc implored Athens to swiftly deliver on 15 overdue reforms, saying too little had been done over the summer.

Greece needs to implement a series of economic reforms so it can get its hands on the next tranche of bailout money it's due by the end of October. So far, only two reforms have been achieved, but EU leaders have said several weeks is plenty of time if Athens doesn't drag its feet.

Another German politician also spoke up about the "Club Med" meeting - Wolfgang Schäuble, the finance minister of Europe's largest economy. He chided the meeting, saying: "When socialist party leaders meet, most of the time, nothing intelligent comes out of it."

cjc/pad (Reuters, AP, AFP)