Greece: the tenors of the eurozone do not exclude a referendum – Le Figaro

To break the deadlock, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said he did not fear a popular consultation.

The last time that Athens brandished the weapon of a referendum in his standoff with creditors of the Eurogroup, this was very poorly done. It was in Cannes in autumn 2011. Nicolas Sarkozy, very put together, and Angela Merkel, ulcerated by the maneuver, had broken a taboo: together they showed the euro exit door at the Greek prime minister. A few days later, the Socialist George Papandreou fell.

Three years later, Tsipras government has neither fulfilled the commitments made in early 2012, nor frankly advanced to the third bailout, the which will necessarily take over on 30 June. The hypothesis of a referendum resurfaces. But this time many European leaders find their account. It’s more to force the hand of the creditors, with the complicity of Greek voters. But to clear the way for an honorable reversal of the extreme left in power.

The Treasury of Athens continues to drain, with the repayment of € 756 million to the IMF confirmed Monday. It remains “two weeks” of liquidity, warned Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis. No European bridging loan is at hand, despite the “progress” hailed Monday by the Eurogroup. In Greece, the threatens bankruptcy and polls are crumbling. In short, “Alexis Tsipras is stuck,” says one expert of the Hellenic political scene.

The possibility of a referendum are “and we have in mind (…) in the event of impasse “in the Eurogroup, evokes Yannis Dragasakis, Deputy Prime Minister in the Greek newspaper Vima. For good measure, Lieutenant Syriza adds that there is “no way” for the government to reverse its “red lines”, the maintenance of pensions and the minimum wage increase. But the option is open.

Hold a referendum while continuing to negotiate with Brussels on the wire, the IMF and the ECB, with a deadline that is approaching every day would be dangerous. But the difference with the failed referendum of 2011 is obvious: chick! some tenors responded Monday on the sidelines of a closed session of ministers of the Eurogroup in Brussels.

“It might be a good thing to let the Greek people decide what it is willing to accept, or what he would change “

” If Greece believes should hold a referendum, it does so! It might be a good thing to let the Greek people decide what it is prepared to accept or what he would change “in the recovery plan, dropped the German Wolfgang Schäuble, hardly suspected of sympathy for the Greek far left. Even tone towards Martin Schulz, German too and Social Democratic chairman of the European Parliament.

There is no mystery to this apparent rally. Four months after the electoral triumph of Alexis Tsipras, the Greek opinion seems to turn. The public still supports the Prime Minister of a narrow majority. But the Greeks are more likely to want to remain in the euro and, above all, to demand a swift agreement in Brussels. A referendum would give the government political cover needed to be more flexible. Merely to talk about it indicates that the wind is changing.