“The door is open for discussion”, President Francois Hollande told reporters, standing next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, calling on Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to make “serious” proposals quickly.
Advertisement
“It’s not about Greece, it’s about innovation, research, and investment, and that is where the future of Europe lies”, Renzi said, entering the Euro Summit for European Union leaders in Brussels. European leaders and Greece have to continue to negotiate to keep Greece in the eurozone, he added. He added that a conference should be held to restructure all European debt that could, for example, create a maximum budget deficit to prevent debt from spiraling as it did in Greece. The move doesn’t affect the lenders right away, but it was a warning shot by the ECB to Greek banks that their fate lies in its hands.
If the reform list was adequate and Greece took some prior actions to enact first measures, Merkel said she was sure that short-term finance could be provided to help Athens over its immediate funding needs. His office did not provide details about the conversations.
“Of course the German government remains ready to talk, as the chancellor said last week in the Bundestag (lower house of parliament), the door for talks remains open”, he said. But with Greece’s bailout programme now officially expired and in the absence of any new programme, the conditions for its continuation are no longer met. “Whether it’s possible is something that has to be discussed”, he told Austrian state TV.
Greece’s opposition leader Antonis Samaris, a ex- prime minister, said he was stepping down in the wake of the referendum result.
Any deal on the debt would have to come as part of a broader agreement on more bailout aid.
Thousands of Greece supporters have rallied in Barcelona, Paris, Dublin and Frankfurt, while in Spain, allies of Greeces Syriza party see the vote as an historic opportunity to change Europe. ‘What we are going to do today is to talk to each other and restore order, ‘ he said.
On Tuesday, a chorus of European voices, seemingly pointed towards Berlin, cried out for a deal with Tsipras, who is expected to put forward new proposals in Brussels in the hopes of clinching a third bailout package and avoiding a risky “Grexit“. In other words, Piketty suggested, when it comes to how to handle Greece in 2015, the best argument against Germany might be…Germany, circa 1953. After jubilant celebrations by “No” voters following their 61% referendum victory, Greeks returned to the reality of queuing at ATMs for their daily withdrawal limit of €60.
Earlier on Monday, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said the “No” vote would not mean an automatic exit from the eurozone for Greece and urged Athens to restart negotiations.
“It is up to Greece” if it wants to stay in the eurozone, he said.
He said that Greek policy positions were more important than personnel.
Advertisement
With Greece’s financial system gasping for air, the authorities prolonged an eight-day financial institution closure till Thursday amid fears money machines within the nation have been operating dry.
