Saturday’s Eurogroup marks Greece’s deadline to come to an agreement with creditors over the debt issue, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. After that, Greece most likely will default on its payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The statement was made after Thursday’s Euro Summit in Brussels. “We hope that there will be an agreement on Saturday,” Merkel said, underlining that Eurozone leaders asked their respective Finance Ministers to reach a solution along with the Troika of creditors and Greece. She also said that even Finance Ministers have to rely on finance experts as well.
The French President was on the same wavelength, stating that Saturday’s meeting of Eurozone Finance Ministers is of “vital importance” because there is no time left.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that the summit finished at 3:00 am and will reconvene at 9:00 am, commenting that these exhausting negotiations are not the proper way to resolve the Greek issue.
“I am exhausted, I am tired,” Juncker said to the press after the summit. “I don’t like this method of work that doesn’t allow time to sleep… We can’t make the right decisions when tired,” he said, adding, “This is not the proper method to work, not for us, not for you [the journalists].”
European Council President Donald Tusk said that Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem briefed Eurozone leaders on the progress of negotiations with Greece. He said that European heads of state are fully aware of the situation and the consequences. He said that Eurozone leaders called for the agreement to close at the meeting of Finance Ministers on Saturday.
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