Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has taken it upon himself to accelerate negotiations and reach a deal with lenders in order to increase liquidity.
Two days after the Eurogroup in Riga, where European Union finance ministers refused a deal that would release partial bailout funds, Tsipras had telephone talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem asking them for partial disbursement of aid funds by the end of April or after the May 11 Eurogroup.
The Greek PM will also have telephone conversations with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi regarding liquidity from the central bank.
At the same time, and ahead of the technical discussions with lenders that recommence in Brussels, the Greek PM had a meeting with the government financial team to discuss how negotiations can be expedited. On Monday there will be a teleconference between Athens and creditors.
Sources from the Maximos Mansion say that the prime minister’s intervention does not mean that he wants to push aside Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis who was badly criticized by his peers on Friday’s Eurogroup.
Tsipras mainly wants to take advantage of the communication channels he has opened with top European officials and country leaders, analysts say. He has frequent telephone talks with the German chancellor, sources from the Maximos Mansion say.
According to the same sources, the talks between Tsipras and Merkel had both sides agreeing that they will have an open channel of communication so that they can intervene in negotiations whenever needed.
A German government spokesperson confirmed Sunday’s telephone talks between the two country leaders, but declined to say anything about the content of the discussions.
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