Cyprus needs to take measures urgently in order to face its economic problems, Eurogroup President and Luxemburg Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker has said.

In statements he made to the press after a meeting he had with opposition party DISY President Nicos Anastasiades, Juncker said that “everyone knows that urgent measures are needed in order to meet the expectations of the international community and of the financial markets”.

He added that during the meeting the two men went “through all these measures which I have the impression that the opposition leader, my good friend Nicos, is more than very well aware of the urgency his country is facing”.

Juncker said that measures need to be adopted “in order to consolidate the public finances of the country and to pay the necessary attention to the problems existing in the banking sector”.

He further reconfirmed the responsible position of the opposition in Cyprus.

On his part, Anastasiades stressed the need to formulate proposals, which will minimize tough measures as much as possible, expressing the belief that this can be achieved.