Draft approval for the $93 billion bailout came after an all-night debate by Athens lawmakers.
Advertisement
Unable to borrow on the worldwide markets, another bailout is all that stands between Greece and a disorderly default on its debts that could see it forced out of Europe’s joint currency.
Arriving at the 19-member Eurogroup meeting in Brussels, Germany’s finance minister – one of Mr Tsipras’s harshest critics – was upbeat. But Berlin opposes writing off any Greek debt, although it is open to the idea of extending grace periods before Athens has to start paying interest and principal on its bailout loans. Lawmakers from the so-called Left Platform of his party refuse to support the continuation of austerity, accusing him of betraying his pledges and the Greek people’s mandate.
Culture Minister Nikos Xydakis, speaking on state television, said early elections were now likely.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said that the cooperation of the Greek government over the past months and the plan to vote on the bailout measures in the Greek parliament on Thursday are “a remarkable result” compared with previous talks over the past months.
He said his government “had taken on the responsibility to continue the fight rather than commit suicide and then go running to other worldwide forums saying it wasn’t fair that we had to kill ourselves”.
The terms of the bailout will be discussed at the forthcoming extraordinary meeting of eurozone finance ministers, which is scheduled to take place in Brussels later on Friday.
Panagiotis Lafazanis, a Syriza lawmaker, told Tsipras: “I feel ashamed for you”.
The International Monetary Fund is reluctant to take part in the new rescue package unless the Europeans can agree on some form of relief for Greece’s debt mountain – equivalent to 170 percent of GDP – to bring it down to a sustainable level.
Greece faces an urgent deadline on August 20, when it must repay about 3.2 billion (about $3.5 billion) to the European Central Bank (ECB). He stopped short of quitting Syriza outright, however.
Additional reforms to raise the retirement age for public sector workers and lift restrictions on bank foreclosures on low-income homeowners were agreed under pressure from bailout monitors from the ECB, IMF, European Commission and European Stability Mechanism.
Towards the end of the debate, Tsipras defended what he called a painful but responsible decision.
If the new deal clears the remaining hurdles, Greece would quickly get 13 billion euros in new loans, a Greek finance ministry official said.
Greece is not the only country where trouble is brewing over yet another bailout.
In reaction to the news of the initial agreement Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, commented: “For the first time an agreement is reached that represents more than an accounting exercise…”
Advertisement
Bailout announcement… Alexander Stubb, Finland’s finance minister, said the country has given the Green bailout deal the green light.
