By Jan Strupczewski and Renee Maltezou BRUSSELS / ATHENS (Reuters) – The new Greek prime minister said Friday he was confident that finance ministers of the euro zone Athens accepted the request for extension of credit, while Germany attenuated its hostile tone The start of an emergency meeting of euro group of 19 nations in Brussels was postponed until 1530 GMT to give more time for preparatory talks between Greek officials, the eurozone and the IMF. Hours before the talks, Prime Minister leftist Alexis Tsipras said in a statement to Reuters: “I am sure the Greek letter for an extension of six months of the loan agreement with the conditions that accompany it will accepted “. A report from the German magazine Der Spiegel, indicating that the European Central Bank was making contingency plans for a possible Greek exit from the currency area if the talks failed, on which the ECB declined to comment, highlighted the impending situation. Berlin and others in the euro area who share their orthodox view want guarantees that Greece will meet the strict conditions of its international bailout, but Athens is determined to abandon austerity to revive its economy. Tsipras had a long telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday and spoke repeatedly with the leaders of France and Italy in search of a solution that enables its leftist government maintain high forehead. “Greece has done everything possible so that we can get a mutually beneficial solution based on the principle of double respect: respect both to the principle of EU rules and the electoral result of the member states, “said A day after rudely rejected the Greek approach, Germany sounded more conciliatory, saying that the latest proposal by Greece was a” good sign, “but it was not enough in its current format. Continued …
No comments:
Post a Comment