“The only thing we ask for is not to be put under pressure by means of an ultimatum. To give us time until the end of May or the beginning of summer to be able to put our suggestions for a solution on the table so we can talk about them with our partners,” said, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis in an interview with German public broadcaster ARD, adding that Greece and Europe could then make new agreements.
Varoufakis said Greece was responsible for a lack of progress with reforms but that was not why the euro zone was experiencing deflation: “We’re canaries in a coal mine. This one is very weak so he dies first but he isn’t responsible for the poisonous gases” he said underlining that Greece is the first domino but is not responsible for the domino phenomenon. “It is a systemic crisis and we must deal with it systemically and not one against the other and to point our finger and say: what are you doing or what is he doing. We must think as Europeans, stick together and restart the political tools” he said and referring to his meeting on Thursday with his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble it is important a modus vivendi be found because there is a huge gap between what the Greek government thinks and says and what others say that it thinks and says.
He rejected the populism charges explaining that the government did not promise everything to everyone. However, he expressed the certainty that Mr. Schaeuble and Mr. Sapin (French Minister) as well as every decent European will agree that is not right to have thousands of Greeks go to bed hungry as a result of Europe and the Greek government’s mistakes in dealing with the deflation crisis.
He supported that the crisis in Greece is not Greek but a crisis of the eurozone and asks for solidarity from the country’s partners in order for the crisis that costs everyone to be faced and warned of the danger of nationalism referring to ultra-right party Golden Dawn rise which as he said is the third largest political power in Greece.
Varoufakis has been hopping across European capitals this week to win support for Greece’s plan to restructure debt and end austerity, which would involve swapping existing government debt for growth-linked or perpetual bonds. Referring to the haircut of the Greek debt he noted that as the Europeans do not like the word “haircut” the Greeks do not like the words “program” and “troika” and asked for solidarity and a chance in order for the new government to reform the country.
“We need to convince them we’re serious about it and they need to give Greece the chance to flourish in Europe,” he said.
(source: ana-mpa)
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