The new Greek proposals will be discussed by eurozone finance ministers on Saturday. “My aim is to prevent Grexit“. “The people of Greece have spoken and I would like to understand what they have said”.
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For months Juncker was the link man with leftist premier Tsipras, but after a series of late-night meetings and chummy photo opportunities produced no bailout deal, Juncker said last week he felt “betrayed” by the calling of the referendum. “I’m also somber about the question of whether Greece really wants to come up with proposals, with a solution”.
“What we are going to do today is to talk to each other, to understand each other, to show tolerance and to restore order to the situation”. Rutte, a close ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told reporters Tuesday he was “extremely somber about this summit“. Some investors hope the resignation of Yanis Varoufakis on Monday may well help smooth negotiations. “The European Union is all about compromise”, Juncker added. “If they don’t do that, then I think it will be over quickly”.
On his part, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in his concluding remarks at the EP debate that he is committed to reforms and will come up tomorrow with very specific proposals.
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“And even if the Greek prime minister keeps telling Greek voters that the “no” vote has nothing to do with the Euro, the Greek government will in fact have to introduce an alternative currency nearly immediately since it doesn’t have any Euros left to pay anybody with it. And the European Central Bank would be foolish to lend any more money to a government has no intent to ever pay it back”. The leaders of all Greek mainstream parties released a statement insisting the nation should stay in the euro.
