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Eurogroup meeting suspended for an indefinite period

25 June 2015 / 19:06:27  GRReporter
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Two hours after its start, the meeting of euro zone finance ministers was suspended for an indefinite period. The ministers asked the Greek side to submit a better proposal for an agreement. At the same time, EU officials cited by Bloomberg stated there was no chance of reaching an agreement on the last proposal submitted by creditors.

After the six-hour long meeting of the heads of creditor institutions with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, IMF Director Christine Lagarde said the negotiations between the two sides had made no progress. She said, "The three institutions have worked together over the past few weeks. We have come out with a joint proposal, we have been focused and disciplined. Unfortunately, the other side is not, so there is still much work to do."

Similar was the statement of Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, "We have no agreement from the Greek side, so during the meeting we need to hear their ideas, what they agree and don’t agree with, and to start from there."

Shortly before the infamous end of the Eurogroup meeting European Council President Donald Tusk expressed in a tweet his optimism that Athens and creditors would agree:

 
Soon after that, however, German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not share his optimism. In a statement to the media upon her arrival to participate in the EU summit later today, she said that Greece "took a step back on certain topics," adding that the finance ministers would take the decision on the agreement.

For his part, French President Francois Hollande said that "the agreement with Greece is achievable and absolutely necessary," warning that Athens and the representatives of creditors are running out of time.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was the most optimistic among his colleagues. "European history is full of differences, negotiations and ultimately compromises. After Greece presents its complete proposals, I am convinced that we could achieve such a compromise that would allow Greece and the euro zone to overcome the crisis," he said on his way to the EU summit.

Minutes later, it became clear that the meeting of finance ministers did not break up the deadlock. According to European sources, this weekend they will be ready to discuss a possible joint version of an agreement and a possible failure of Athens and its creditors to come to agreement. There are unconfirmed reports that another meeting may take place on Saturday.
 
Immediately thereafter, Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that "the door for Greece to accept the proposals of creditors is still open." Then he went to the European Council building to inform the Prime Ministers of EU Member States of the reasons for the failed meeting. President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi is in the hall with them too.

According to Italian media correspondent in Brussels Fabrizio Goria who refers to the participants in the meeting, Merkel told the leaders of European parties, members of the European People's Party, that it was absolutely necessary to conclude an agreement with Greece before the opening of capital markets on Monday. Immediately afterwards, she added, "We won’t be blackmailed" by Greece.

Meanwhile, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said he was confident that Greece would repay its loans to the IMF on 30 June, specifying that if Athens still failed to pay the amount of almost 1.6 billion euro in time, the IMF would not accept this as a failure and would put Greece in the category of "arrears". Thereafter, within 30 days, Christine Lagarde would have to inform the IMF board of the subsequent procedures. Rice said the IMF would urge both parties to fulfil their part of the responsibility - Greece to begin implementing the reforms and the Europeans to finance it so that its debt continues to be sustainable. "We do not do take it or leave it. That is not how we work with our member countries. It is always give and take", stressed Rice.

Shortly before the EU summit, the global news agencies disseminated these photos.

 

Tags: PoliticsMeeting of euro zone finance ministersFailure to reach an agreement between Greece and creditorsInternational Monetary FundEU summit
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