“Tsipras must decide whether to stick to a course that has brought nothing but harm to the country or throw himself into whatever he can for Greece”, Konstandaras said.
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Estonia’s parliament was the first to give the government conditional authorisation for loan negotiations with Greece, provided the Commission finds sufficient basis for the talks. Greece’s prime minister acknowledge Friday the reforms his g… The centre left party has 17 MPs out of a total of 300 in the European Parliament. Greece’s prime min…
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos reacts during a meeting with lawmakers of Syriza party at t …
Alexis Tsipras’s government is heading into a weekend of political wrangling in Brussels after winning the backing of Greek lawmakers to negotiate a deal that will keep the country in the euro.
Greece’s creditor institutions are in principle satisfied with reform proposals submitted by the country in its bid for a new bailout, European Union sources told dpa early Saturday, as the Greek parliament considered giving its support to the measures. Investors were also encouraged by a second day of gains in…
There were lingering concerns that Greece will take the money, but won’t deliver on its promises. Even Slovakia’s finance minister, one of the harshest public critics of Greece’s efforts in recent months, gave a cautious thumbs-up. Here are…
Greece’s pro-European opposition parties – the centrist To Potami, the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK – expressed their support for Tsipras’ plans, which includes trimming defence spending over the next two years.
The latest offer includes defence spending cuts, a timetable for privatising state assets such as Piraeus port and regional airports, hikes in value added tax for hotels and restaurants and slashing a top-up payment for poorer pensioners.
The sad reality is that, politically, Greece is in no position to meet the budget and structural economic reform dictates of its creditors.
The Greek offer, set out in a 13-page document, concedes to Greece’s paymasters on several key points that Tsipras’s ruling coalition – and the Greek voters, in a referendum last weekend – had previously fiercely opposed.
Tsipras echoed the comments of rank-and-file Greeks in his remarks to parliament Friday ahead of the vote on the nearly $60 billion plan.
But the plan could cause trouble for Tsipras at home, from hardliners in his own party as well as his junior coalition ally.
Before the proposals were finalized Thursday, a prominent dissenter, Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, urged the government not to sign a third bailout. “That is our objective, and I have no other hidden plan”. Although he sent parliament a letter saying he would have voted in favor had he been present, it could not be counted among the “yes” votes under parliamentary rules.
A new and lasting deal with Greece will depend on the Greeks actually doing what they say they will and not buckling under the weight of more austerity.
“I don’t know. The chances are fifty-fifty” for a deal, said Athens resident Omiros Fotiadis. “From here on there is a minefield, and I don’t have the right to dismiss this or hide it from the Greek people”.
But the new proposal, if approved by Greece’s global creditors, will provide longer-term financial support for a nation that has endured six years of recession.
Greece asked for 53.5 billion euros ($59 billion) to help cover its debts until 2018, a review of primary surplus targets in the light of the sharp deterioration of its economy, and a “reprofiling” of the country’s long-term debt. The package would be far larger than the 7.2 billion euros creditors had been offering to Greece during the previous five months of fruitless negotiations.
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Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem promised that Eurozone finance ministers will make a “major” decision Saturday on whether to endorse the latest proposals from Athens.
