The Greek government put on an agreement with its creditors at the EU summit on Monday, but European leaders and US calls Athens to compromise as of this weekend to avoid a default increasingly plausible. Faced with a situation that is “critical”, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, has urged Greece to quickly reach an agreement with its creditors, otherwise it will go “straight to the default.” The White House has also called urgently find a compromise on “a credible reform program”, by the voice of his spokesman Eric Schultz. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras immediately got what he wanted: “We wanted the final negotiations take place at the highest political level of Europe and we are now working in the success of this summit”, welcomed Friday services.
But after the failure at the end of another meeting of finance ministers of the euro area Thursday night, several European officials warned that this special meeting of Heads of State or Government would be useless without a serious preparatory work this weekend. “We need a form of proposal on the table for the summit,” stressed the Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb, that “the ball is clearly in the Greek camp,” while Athens credible judge its proposals and refuses too overwhelming a population already bled by six years of crisis.
Merkel not very optimistic
The top lead “at best a political coup d’accelerator,” said a source close to Brussels negotiations, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel was not very optimistic either: it will just go “advisory” if there is no “basis for agreement” related to new Greek concessions. “All those who expect a crisis and the scenario of fear will denials,” predict the contrary, the spokesman for the Greek government to reassure and prevent the acceleration of bank withdrawals seen in recent days from turning to panic.
Just this week, are at least three billion who have left, according to the press. For comparison, 4.7 billion were withdrawn from banks in April, the last month for which official figures are available. Because of these withdrawals, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised Friday for the second time this week, the ceiling for emergency assistance (ELA) that accorded to Greek banks.
Juncker “Tsipras does not include”
Without agreement on a package of budget savings, cash-strapped countries might not be able to honor a refund of some 1.5 billion euros to the IMF June 30 At that time, the Greek government is likely to have to choose between paying the Fund and pay civil service salaries and pensions. The head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem, has indeed said Thursday it was too late, even if agreed, so that the 7.2 billion of loans on which the negotiations are to be paid before 30 June
A Greek exit from the eurozone is increasingly openly mentioned, five years after the implementation of the first international rescue plan for the country resulted in the crisis by the weight of its public debt. Such a scenario would sign “the beginning of the end of the euro area,” ruled Alexis Tsipras, in an interview, a risk of explosion on which it undoubtedly has to put his interlocutors pressure. “There is so much at stake,” that failure is not an option, has estimated its next Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Angel Gurria. There are at stake including the repayment of € 240 billion lent to Greece since 2010 and debt held mainly by European countries.
Alexis Tsipras should be back in Athens on Saturday after moving in Russia that does not go unnoticed at the height of tensions between the EU and the Government of radical left. “I do not understand Tsipras,” he told the German press the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. Greece and Russia at that time signed an agreement for the construction of a Russian gas pipeline to Greece with Russian funding of up to two billion euros.
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