Athens towards the referendum, the default and the race against time
Milan , 1 July 2015 – 11:42
Yet another day of negotiations for Greece after Tuesday is expired installment of 1 6 billion euro that Athens owes to the International Monetary Fund. The payment did not arrive. The premier Alexis Tsipras has tried to take the comparison with the creditors, with a new proposal for sacrifices, the total value of 8,000,000,000 (read the letter in English and the translation in Italian). At the same time, however, there is no turning back from Athens on the referendum next Sunday when the Greeks will be called to approve or reject any new bailout plan that will have as its counterpart new cuts and restrictions. In a speech on TV Tsipras has again asked his people to vote no on the terms proposed by international creditors. On Wednesday morning the chancellor Angela Merkel had held back on any openness to the new plan of Athens (including the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble , it had been rejected because ” does not provide any additional clarity “) announcing that until after the referendum not re-open any negotiations. While the ECB has left unchanged the maximum level for the provision of emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to Greek banks, (set at 89 billion) in the evening yet another Eurogroup meeting has ended with a stalemate: members agree in announcing that no further meeting of finance ministers is expected before Sunday. Negotiations between Greece and Europe are therefore suspended. But nothing seems lost. The President of the European Council Donald Tusk arrive encouraging words: “Europe wants to help Greece, but can not help anyone against his will. We wait for the outcome of the referendum. ” The same finance minister greek, Yanis Varoufakis , speaks of a productive meeting with his counterparts who have welcomed the proposals of Athens on debt restructuring. Not only. For the greek minister according to the Eurogroup, the latest negotiating proposals of Athens are “in the right direction.”
Aperture
more conciliatory voices also came from the Italian Minister of Economy, Pier Carlo Padoan , which said that ” Greece’s exit from the euro was never an option. ” Padoan also explained that “the mandate of the Eurogroup has always been to find agreement based on a return to sustainable growth for Greece.” Accommodating even François Hollande, and he said that an agreement has to be done immediately “to avoid sinking the euro area in a vacuum. Then we must draw the conclusions. If you do not come, there is always a risk. ” And also the same International Monetary Fund reiterates that “the priority remains to help the people greek, while members of the IMF will not suffer losses in the event that Greece does not pay”
Tsipras: “Vote no to the referendum”
Wednesday afternoon the greek prime minister has sent a message via television to the nation: “Greece remains at the negotiating table. We want an agreement with its European partners, but that is sustainable. And we will try to have the best possible conditions. They are difficult days, but the referendum will give us guidance on how to act. ” But, regarding the consultation of Sunday, 7 July, the premier invited the Greeks to vote no in the referendum “because it does not mean vote no in the referendum, but return to a Europe of values. Lie who say that we have plans for a Grexit. ”
Tsipras then appealed to pensioners lined the banks: “We want to defend your pension, we want them to stay pensions, not alms. I thank all the Greeks for the calm and courage. Creditors are blackmailing the Greeks push for a positive vote in the referendum on Sunday, but this situation will not last much longer. I take responsibility for an immediate solution, but at the same time I ask you to help me by saying no to the European memorandum and open a new page of democracy, “concluded the Prime Minister.
Renzi ” I would not have made the referendum “
” The referendum in Greece is a mistake, in my opinion. Personally I would not have done, but I respect the will of the people greek. I hope that we can avoid until the last, even though now it is not easy, “said Matteo Renzi in joint conference with Angela Merkel. “They must prevail reasons of common sense, we will see what will happen. But it is unthinkable that we have stopped paying the baby in Italy to pay pensions in Greece. The referendum is not a derby between some European leaders and Tsipras’. “Me and Matt (Renzi, ed) we talked about the situation in Greece. For my part I repeated what I said this morning: we have agreed to leave the doors open to the interview. But I repeat: we need a situation in which Greece achieve reforms for sustainable growth, as in other European countries, “said the Chancellor Merkel . “On several occasions I have had contact with Tsipras: our personal relationship is not damaged. Every sovereign state has the right to make decisions. But we can talk. ” Opposite position to Juncker which said that the European Commission will have no contact with Athens before the referendum.
The letter of the greek premier
In the letter received by creditors in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, Tsipras proposed a package of sacrifices by about 8 billion euro for the next year and a half, definitely a huge effort for the Greek economy as exhausted. Tsipras asks only to keep a discount on VAT of 30% for the islands, especially the most isolated and difficult to reach and supply. Other exceptions that Tsipras asked regarding the allowance of solidarity on the lowest pensions, which would be phased out from 2019 and not from 2017, and the start of October and now the pension reform that will bring the retirement age to 67 in 2022.
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