French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici will travel to Athens in mid-September as a sign of French support for Greece’s reform effort as criticism of the debt-hit nation, particularly from German officials, persists, the Athens-based newspaper Kathimerini reported.
That news came just after German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler once more expressed disappointment with the Greek coalition government’s efforts to implement reforms and make cuts demanded by international lenders to receive bailouts. Germany is the European Union’s biggest contributor to those rescue loans. “I’ve lost my illusions,” said Roesler, who is also Vice Chancellor and leads the pro-business Free Democrats in Germany’s ruling coalition.
French President Francois Hollande was elected earlier this year on a pledge to fight austerity measures in his country, but said Greece has no choice but to keep accepting pay cuts, tax hikes and slashed pensions because its economy was in a free-fall and even reforms wouldn’t succeed without tough conditions to rein in spending.
Source: e-Kathimerini
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
