Samaras: Greece won't bargin away freedom

THESSALONIKI, Greece, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said Friday he won't "bargain away" Greece's freedom as a crucial austerity deal with foreign creditors is being negotiated.

Samaras said in a speech during a celebration in Thessaloniki marking northern port's liberation from Ottoman rule will cooperate to get out from under the country's crushing debt, Ekathimerini reported.

"Greece won't bargain away its freedom," Samaras said.

The prime minister said Greece wants to ensure "we shake off the shackles of underdevelopment and of excessive debt, which is leading us to humiliation."

"In a few years Greece will be a much better place as long as we remain united and determined and that depends on us," Samaras said.