No rapprochement between Greece and other euro countries – The Standard

No rapprochement between Greece and other euro countries – The Standard

             Greece and the other euro countries have made no progress in the negotiations on the further handling of the debt crisis in the country. “We have reached no common conclusions’, announced the Belgian Finance Minister Johan van Overtveldt in the night from Wednesday to Thursday after a first European meeting with his new Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis.
         

The European support program for Greece expires end of this month, but the new, by the leftist alliance SYRIZA dominated government wants to get rid of the imposed austerity policies and the tight international supervision. Varoufakis Wednesday came under heavy pressure to extend the program yet, but the Greek minister not tied in.

“We have talked about the possibility of an extension. Some were clearly prefer to do so, but we have not been able to decide ‘, reported chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem. After six hours of meetings, it seemed that the ministers would still draw a minimum common statement, but that attempt failed. “We tried to work on the next steps for the next few days, but we were unable to agree,” acknowledged Dijsselbloem.

For example, the first meeting of the finance ministers of the euro countries Varoufakis not the least yielded progress. “It will be a very difficult discussion,” as Van Overtveldt confirmed the general tenor. The next few days will continue working at technical level and Monday the ministers meet again. This promises to be a crucial day. “We hope that at the end of that meeting can reach a conclusion from both Greek and European perspective is good,” said Varoufakis, who talks Wednesday “very constructive and comprehensive” mentioned.

The more than six-hour meeting, however, remained largely confined to a dialogue of the deaf. Varoufakis argued that the current rate of unemployment and the national debt but has only fueled and demanded that tack is changed. However, the other euro countries insist that Athens must comply with the agreements and ask that Greece agrees to an extension of the current program, before there can be talk of a relief from the huge Greek debt.