“It is never pleasant to watch a relationship founder. Greece’s Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, has charged its creditors with trying to humiliate the country; he has accused the IMF of ‘criminal responsibility’ for Greece’s suffering. Prominent euro-zone politicians are saying openly that, without a deal to release rescue funds in the next few days, default and ‘Grexit’ loom,” noted The Economist in its recent article “My Big Fat Greek Divorce,” a title inspired by Nia Vardalos’ movie about Greeks abroad.
In a short paragraph, the newspaper managed to fully describe the poisonous relationship that has developed between the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the country’s creditors.
The Economist noted that at the end of Thursday’s Eurogroup (June 18), the only thing left is a face-to-face meeting between Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “A deal is still possible, but the sides have come to loathe each other.”
Meanwhile, for the second day in a row, the Financial Times published an extensive article regarding the Greek issue, calling on the Greek Prime Minister to accept the creditor’s proposal. It may not be an ideal proposal, but it will prevent the risk of default.
“Given Greek banks’ dependence on funding from the European Central Bank, default could then push Greece out of the Eurozone. After that, nobody can be sure what would happen. For Greece’s creditors, a larger default would follow: euro-denominated debts would be repaid in drachma, or not at all. The destruction of Greece’s financial system would rip the life out of its economy and do unknowable damage to its political system. Such chaos would also deal a wounding blow to the European ideal that has spread stability and prosperity across the continent over the past decades,” noted the newspaper.
Reuters reported that during the Eurogroup meeting, ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure was asked by Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, if the Greek banks will be able to open on Friday June 18. “Tomorrow, yes. Monday, I don’t know,” Coeure noted, according to officials.
Yanis Varoufakis commented that Reuters, Bloomberg and other news agencies should respect the Eurogroup rules and stop the alleged leaks that only end up harming both parties.
Finally, while the Eurogroup in Luxembourg was underway Die Zeit published an article according to which the creditors made a last offer to Athens. The German newspaper, noted that the creditors offered Greece a final extension, until the end of 2015, without the participation of the IMF.
The proposal includes a program extension until the December 2015, with EFSF funding reaching up to 10 billion euros.
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