Monday, June 8, 2015

The Greek government is expecting feedback on the proposal it has submitted to the EU institutions to continue negotiations on a political level, the government said yesterday.

Conversely, the plan submitted by the institutions to Greece cannot be accepted in its entirety, as was made clear in Greek Parliament on June 5, when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ said: “We want a deal that is economically viable and socially just.”

Talks between the Greek government and its partners continue this week, with Finance Minister Yianis Varoufakis meeting with his German counterpart Wolfgang Schauble in Berlin today, while Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras meets with EU leaders at the EU - Latin American summit on June 10-11.

In a week of urgent diplomacy, calls for movement to end the impasse and avert the risk of wider economic reverberation were made from leaders at the G-7 summit in southern Germany yesterday (7 May).

See also: PM Tsipras speech in Parliament, with subtitles (video, The Guardian, June 5)
  • Tsakalotos Warns against Eurozone Break-up
In an exclusive interview (video) with Channel 4 News' economics editor Paul Mason (June 5), Alternate Foreign Minister for International Economic Relations, Euclid Tsakalotos, warned that a break-up of the eurozone would lead to “very nasty politics,” competitive devaluations and the emergence of nationalisms.

He stressed that Greece is not pro-Europe as a tactic but pro-Europe as a strategy, underlining that Europe has to decide whether it wishes to follow a democratic, flexible course or whether it is a rule-based institution for the rich.