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Greece debt crisis: Eurozone summit strikes deal
Greeks capitulate to austerity and external monitoring after 17 hours of late night talks end in 'a-Greek-ment'Prime minister Tsipras forced to concede to toughest measures ever imposed on eurozone economy in return for opening talks on a new rescue package worth €86bn
Greece and eurozone reach agreement in bailout talksDonald Tusk says new programme is ‘all ready to go’ but backlash intensifies with critics calling creditors’ terms harsher than Versailles treatyBut the hard-fought political deal is only the start of yet another round of talks to hammer out the technical details of a bailout plan that could be worth up to €86bn (£61bn) for Greece.In order to get these desperately needed funds, the radical left government of Alexis Tispras had to submit to draconian economic reforms that the Greek people had rejected in a referendum barely a week before.Greece has promised to pass laws introducing controversial economic reforms by Wednesday. These include reforming the VAT system, overhauling pensions and signing up to plans that ensure immediate spending cuts in the event of breaching creditor-mandated budget targets.Athens has also agreed to sell off state assets worth €50bn, with the proceeds earmarked for a trust fund supervised by its creditors. Half the fund will be used to recapitalise Greek banks, while the remaining €25bn will pay down Greek debts.
Relief - and much anger - in Greece as Tsipras clinches dealGreeks greeted news of a deal with creditors on Monday with a measure of relief mixed with much anger, particularly at Germany, after it became clear Greece will have to swallow more austerity that could fracture the government and spark a backlash.
Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, has until Wednesday to convince his party that he did not betray them by signing up to sweeping austerity measures that will see €50 billion-worth of public assets sold off.Greece faces financial ruin if the agreement made in Brussels early on Monday morning cannot be ratified by both the Greek government and the national parliaments of the Eurozone.
Greece put its faith in democracy but Europe has vetoed the resultThe EU has humiliated Syriza and ignored its referendum: now the only power the country has left is to implement what the lenders want
With Europe behind it, Greece is being pushed into further peril There is not the remotest prospect Athens can raise the money set out in the bailout terms, even with the enforced sale of national assets
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced early on Tuesday that Greece had gone further into arrears by missing a debt repayment for the second consecutive month.It had been due to pay €456m (£323m; $500m) on Monday and now owed €2bn, the Washington-based fund said.
Greece is being treated like a hostile occupied stateA new deal for Athens is the worst of all worlds and solves nothing
Europe To Greece: Your Government Belongs To Us
IMF stuns Europe with call for massive Greek debt relief'There would have to be a very dramatic extension with grace periods of 30 years on the entire stock of European debt,' the fund says The International Monetary Fund has set off a political earthquake in Europe, warning that Greece may need a full moratorium on debt payments for 30 years and perhaps even long-term subsidies to claw its way out of depression. The findings are explosive. The document amounts to a warning that the IMF will not take part in any EMU-led rescue package for Greece unless Germany and the EMU creditor powers finally agree to sweeping debt relief.This vastly complicates the rescue deal agreed by eurozone leaders in marathon talks over the weekend since Germany insists that the bail-out cannot go ahead unless the IMF is involved.The creditors were aware of the IMF’s report as early as Sunday, yet chose to sweep it under rug. Extracts were leaked to Reuters on Tuesday, forcing the matter into the open.
QuoteIMF stuns Europe with call for massive Greek debt relief'There would have to be a very dramatic extension with grace periods of 30 years on the entire stock of European debt,' the fund says The International Monetary Fund has set off a political earthquake in Europe, warning that Greece may need a full moratorium on debt payments for 30 years and perhaps even long-term subsidies to claw its way out of depression. The findings are explosive. The document amounts to a warning that the IMF will not take part in any EMU-led rescue package for Greece unless Germany and the EMU creditor powers finally agree to sweeping debt relief.This vastly complicates the rescue deal agreed by eurozone leaders in marathon talks over the weekend since Germany insists that the bail-out cannot go ahead unless the IMF is involved.The creditors were aware of the IMF’s report as early as Sunday, yet chose to sweep it under rug. Extracts were leaked to Reuters on Tuesday, forcing the matter into the open.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11739985/IMF-stuns-Europe-with-call-for-massive-Greek-debt-relief.html
The General Secretary of the Greek Ministry of Economy has resigned
Greece's deputy finance minister Nadia Valavani has resigned ahead of a vote in parliament on whether to agree a bailout from eurozone creditors. "I'm not going to vote for this amendment and this means I cannot stay in the government," Ms Valavani told reporters. She submitted her resignation in a letter to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Greece: 107 out of 201 members of Syriza’s central committee call for No and a party conference. Won’t derail today’s vote but significant
The General Secretary for Social Security at the Ministry of Labor has announced he will resign, as he disagrees with the retirement and other pension reforms agreed with Greece's creditors.
Backlash brews in Germany over Berlin's role in Greece debt talksGerman media express worries about how Berlin’s role in the bailout talks will affect the country’s image
Greek MPs have approved tough economic measures required to enable an €86bn eurozone bailout deal to go aheadTwo hundred and twenty nine lawmakers voted Yes, 64 voted No and six abstained. Half of the No votes came from the governing Syriza party.
Germany Finds Itself Cast as the Villain in Greek DramaBerlin's role as the enforcer in negotiations over Greece's debt could cause lasting damage to Germany's global imageA few days ago, a group of German comedians produced a satire of their country’s attitude toward Greece under the title “Our Precious German Euros.” Filmed in a pair of swanky hotel rooms, the clip lampoons two pampered yuppies, Klaus and Jan, as they vent their annoyance at all the money their country has spent bailing out the “bankrupt” and “greedy” Greeks. “These swindling Greeks are destroying our euro,” says Klaus. “Nobody’s ever given us Germans something for nothing,” says Jan.In case it wasn’t clear, the moral of the sketch then appears with a chirpy melody: Germans have the “historic opportunity,” it says, “not to behave like a–holes for once” and to show Greece a bit of sympathy.
QuoteGreek MPs have approved tough economic measures required to enable an €86bn eurozone bailout deal to go aheadTwo hundred and twenty nine lawmakers voted Yes, 64 voted No and six abstained. Half of the No votes came from the governing Syriza party.http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33535205
QuoteGermany Finds Itself Cast as the Villain in Greek DramaBerlin's role as the enforcer in negotiations over Greece's debt could cause lasting damage to Germany's global imageA few days ago, a group of German comedians produced a satire of their country’s attitude toward Greece under the title “Our Precious German Euros.” Filmed in a pair of swanky hotel rooms, the clip lampoons two pampered yuppies, Klaus and Jan, as they vent their annoyance at all the money their country has spent bailing out the “bankrupt” and “greedy” Greeks. “These swindling Greeks are destroying our euro,” says Klaus. “Nobody’s ever given us Germans something for nothing,” says Jan.In case it wasn’t clear, the moral of the sketch then appears with a chirpy melody: Germans have the “historic opportunity,” it says, “not to behave like a–holes for once” and to show Greece a bit of sympathy.http://time.com/3959164/germany-greece-bailout-deal-athens-merkel/
The European dream was conjured out of a nightmare - it was, in origin, a project to exorcise the family ghost: the vast power of one country, Germany.With Greece treated not far short of a satrapy of permanent recession, the climax to the crisis raises one of the most serious charges against the European Union - that it overrides national democracy.That the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regards the plan as all but pointless adds to the angst.In the common imagination, at least on the Continent, if not in the UK, the European project is about "peace".In the aftermath of the World War Two, the driving impetus was how to avoid Europe ever going to war again.That is putting it politely -it was how stop Germany ever again doing violence to a continent.Which is why it is almost incredible that the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has single-handedly resurrected a perception of his country that was deservedly buried long ago - the promoters of a brutal, remorseless, logic riding roughshod over compassion. Both the solutions on the table last weekend, Greek exit or the current deal, were German creations.Recently resigned Greece Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, while not a neutral observer by any means, is probably right that German attitudes "completely and utterly" control the Eurogroup.
Greece should seize Germany's botched offer of a velvet GrexitThe Versailles terms imposed on Germany in 1919 were vindictive and narrow-minded, but not beyond reach. Greece is being told to do the impossible
Angela Merkel has been kinder to Greece than German voters would beThe German chancellor wants Germans to pay to rescue Greece even though her voters are increasingly weary
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Topic: Agreement (Read 25784 times)
