European Commissioner José Manuel Barroso yesterday urged Greece to deliver on its obligations to its creditors to remain in the eurozone.

“To maintain the trust of its European and international partners, the delays must end. Words are not enough, actions are more important,” he said after meeting Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

“Greece will stay in the euro as long as commitments made are honoured.”

Mr Samaras said the three-party coalition led by his conservative party was “determined to go ahead with structural changes and privatisations and to implement the measures agreed on in order to reduce the deficit.”

In his first Athens visit since the crisis started in 2009, Mr Barroso met the Greek Premier and Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, just as the Greek government tried to decide on how to cut €11.6 billion in spending.

“Our ultimate fiscal target can be achieved without fuelling recession and unemployment,” socialist leader and partner of the government Evangelos Venizelos said earlier after a coalition meeting on the spending cuts.

“Our international partners must understand this,” he said.

Greece is struggling through its fifth year of recession and for the past two years its economy has been kept alive by bailout packages from the EU and International Monetary Fund.

The so-called “troika” of the international creditors’ auditors was also in Athens yesterday and met with the Finance Minister earlier.