The group’s Dutch president, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said that the Eurogroup will meet later in the week, when it is hoped the proposals could form the basis of an agreement which would see Greece remain part of the euro.
Advertisement
Sapin had been pushing for an agreement with Greece before Sunday’s referendum, but after a fruitless meeting of European finance ministers Wednesday, he conceded that there’s no point negotiating until after the vote.
“The economic problems will be even bigger and an aid programme more difficult to implement”, Dijsselbloem said.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was milder, saying Europe needed to build bridges with Greece and Britain, which is planning a referendum on European Union membership.
With less than two days to go before a critical referendum on proposals by Greece’s creditors, top European officials made it clear that the outlook for the government is grim, particularly if the “no” vote prevails.
Earlier, Tsipras wrote a letter, leaked to the Financial Times, to eurozone government heads, accepting most of the terms of the creditors’ latest bailout offer made on Saturday.
Tsipras also requested a short extension to its current bailout programme to avoid a “technical default”, with a 1.5 billion euro payment due to the International Monetary Fund in just hours.
Asked on Bloomberg TV whether, come Monday, if there is a yes vote, he will not be finance minister, Varoufakis said: “I will not”.
“The future demands a proud Greece within the eurozone and at the heart of Europe. France is stronger than in 2010”.
“Creditors have chosen the strategy of blackmail based on bank closures”.
We don’t know if the Greek government is going to hold a referendum or not, whether it is for or against it. You can’t in all honesty expect us to talk with them in a situation like this.
Advertisement
He said that would allow the Greek government to return to the table and negotiate better terms. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.34% and Germany’s DAX index rose 2.15% as European traders took Tsipras’ flip-flopping as a hopeful sign that a worsening of the crisis can be averted.
