“There are powers (in Europe) that represent specific interests and wish to break but there also has powers – which will prevail – for a sincere and honest compromise”, the Prime Minister has estimated the radical left Syriza, in an interview published by the weekly Sunday Greek Realnews. “I am optimistic about a happy ending soon this first phase of negotiations and the normalization of the situation,” said Alexis Tsipras, in power for two months and that advocates the end of austerity, an argument that irritates some its European partners.
Saturday, experts from Greece, EU, ECB, IMF and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) began to sift through the list in Brussels reforms, which in Athens, should report to the Greek state three billion euros, and bring a growth rate of 1.4% in Greece in 2015. “These discussions marathon” and “difficult” according to the press Greek, will continue Sunday. “There is still much work to do” to reach an agreement, said Saturday news agency ANA.
According to the television channel Mega, creditors insist “on tougher measures “while the government of Syriza,” is committed to the Greek people not to take recessive measures. ” “I can not believe that democratic Europe will choose the path” of rupture, notes Alexis Tsipras. “We want a break with corruption and a solution to Europe,” he said. “The issue of Greece is primarily a European issue which concerns the unity of the euro area and that can only be run by economists and technocrats but by leaders of European countries,” he added.
The list of reforms proposed by Athens includes increased taxation of high incomes, measures against tax evasion and against trafficking in fuel and cigarette privatization with public sector participation .
Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, Ioannis Dragasakis, who visited in recent days with Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders, says he a “real possibilities and limitless economic cooperation” with China. After the concession in 2008 of two terminals of the great Greek port of Piraeus to the Chinese Cosco group, it is currently one of the candidates for the purchase of 67% of the shares that the Greek state has in society from Piraeus Port ( PLO).
Athens absolutely must reach an agreement next week with its creditors to get some of the last tranche of loans amounting to € 7.2 billion, otherwise it risks not be able to repay its debts. So far, Athens has benefited from two successive loans from the EU and IMF since the beginning of the crisis in 2010, EUR 240 billion in exchange for draconian austerity plan.
Alexis Tsipras, the conclusion of the agreement on the reforms would be a first step toward “a new agreement on growth by June, which will also include the reduction of debt, the change in the terms of repayment.” The reduction of the Greek debt to 176% in 2014, is among the priorities of the Syriza economic program.
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