Grim as always and unable to hide his real intentions, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble reiterated his determination to let Greece go bankrupt and expel it from the eurozone. Arriving at the Eurogroup meeting on Saturday, Schaeuble said the proposal submitted by Greece for a new bailout program was “far from being sufficient”. In one more effort to humiliate Greece, he said the figures submitted were “not believable” and that a haircut on Greek debt was not possible, adding he expected “exceptionally difficult negotiations.”
Wolfgang Schaeuble alive & kicking:
“The Greek government will have to do a lot more than just say it wants to reform if it’s going to get the three-year bailout it requested for earlier this week.”
“We will definitely not be able to rely on promises.
Schaeuble put the blame for the current crisis firmly on the shoulders of the radical left Syriza government that was elected in January. The “hopeful” situation regarding Greece at the end of last year has been “destroyed by the last months,” he said.
Schaeuble said Saturday’s discussions would be “extraordinarily difficult.” (via the Guardian)
Schaeuble went so far to troll the previous ND/PASOK government and said “we have a situation that was hopeful in the past, but now it is difficult.” Troika’s negotiations with Samaras’ Finance Minister broke down in November 2014, when the Greeks offered austerity measures that were €1.5 billion below the Troika’s demands.
Video: Schaeuble arriving at eurogroup
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Schaeuble reportedly told Greek Finance Minister Tsakalots: “We did everything, you did nothing.”
Today’s Eurogroup Finance Ministers’ song is “a problem of trust” with the Greek government. PAH! The whole time I was thinking it was a problem of numbers and budgets and billions cuts and fiscal targets.
PS Watching the EG FinMins statements today, a neighbor told me: “I’d love to go inside the eurogroup and start slapping their faces. ” – She is grandmother to three children and no radical at all.
Not very optimistic about a lasting deal being worked out any time soon. Troika will demand more concessions but Syriza has difficulties supporting current Tsipras proposal. Not likely that they would ratify even tougher austerity measures.
Not likely to agree a three year deal quickly, so some short term program will be needed to enable continuing negotiations.
The longer agreement will probably depend on Greece showing good will (to rebuild trust with creditors) by immediately implementing measures agreed in 2010 and by Greek parliament immediately voting into law some of the new austerity measures.
Can Tsipris government survive above tough journey? He may need another referendum, this time demanding a Yes vote.
You are likely correct. Still, I am a bit more optimistic (“a bit” is the keyword). Here’s a speculation on a potential path to an agreement (just as a homework exercise :-)):
Yes, Tsipras does not have a Syriza majority in the parliament, but there is plenty of opposition support for the agreement. He is also the master of Greek politics at the moment, so if he truly wants to reach an agreement he can do it.
IMHO, Merkel personally does not want a Grexit on her watch as her legacy. She will spend her considerable political capital to convince the German skeptics to back at least marginally credible agreement (if there is one). Hollande is already on board.
There are a lot of unhappy EZ members (e.g., the Baltic states, Finland, etc.) They will be happy to end this tortuous process on having three summits every week just so that in the end they can decide to throw good money after bad. However, the bigger Western countries (U.S., Germany, France), on whom they depend for their security will push them for another “kick the can down the road” agreement.
Schaueble _ Merkel prepared a 5-year Grexit plan = news form tonight’s eurogroup
or sell the Parthenon stone by stone
Gabriel posted his dementi on Facebook: “.. This suggestion could only become reality if the Greek government would decide this the better alternative.”
If one can’t forecast what will happen next week or any Grexit one thing is for sure: These “5 years” would never end
Helpful could have been someone in their talk-shows to tell’em that statistics for the last quarter of 2014 came out in March and shows that Saugosch is lying, just like they were lying about the better times already in the elections-campaign and long before the numbers came out.
But who knows may be all 25 Greek proposals were all rejected because he couldn’t read them anyway as therefore the technical teams are responsible.
Of course there is a problem of trust.
I dont want to look ofensive.., but who does trust greece ?
Even Greeks that voted no to a bailout austerity document a week ago.., feel betrayed by Tsipras since the document he did present 5 days later is not much diferent from the document people refused a while ago.
This is dyzying.
Greece has played as if this was a game of poker. People get tired and angry. At a certain point they cant see Greeks in front of them. People are tired.
How dificult is to understand that ? Even you said ” Goodbye To Europe “.
The way Tsipras behaved is not the way to behave.
(When he got elected he said it was the end of German ocupation. He said Troika was over ).
People should realize europe should not be blackmailed.
Thats what he did.
( They will never expell Greece from Euro since if they go Europe would go bust ).
That was greek strategy.
At a certain point people get very tired .
Go close your “European” embassies and leave, brainwashed by propaganda of the 4th Reich, spreading fear, lies, hunger and death and then try to build an own language with an own alphabet and own letters and own numbers without stealing every culture. You know that the only culture-plant your Europe was not stealing from the American Indians was a Greek one, pumpkin, and all the other shit like potatoes, tomatoes, paprika, corn, beans all stolen in Amerika
We are all tired of you.
can’t you even copy his name correctly? it is schaEUble – not schlaube.
people mightl start hating you too if you keep writing garbage like this!
you either have no understanding of what is going on in europe ‘as a whole’ and the imposition of a new ‘neo liberal agenda, or are a troll…
How could the eurogroup be positive. Greece has issued the proposals they have voted away last week. And since, Greek economy has been badly damaged. Dont forget, this would be bail out No 3 and Greece has done little to modernize their economy. So best would be a Grexit, in line with the referendum results
And who damaged? Do this with Turkey the next day their tanks are in Beograd, Sofia and Skopje with headquarters in Tirana.
The Balkans stealing the Greek money your mafia-media isn’t not reporting a word about and the ECB with their illegal printed Euros embargo Greece? This is a script for war.
Wow, I agree 100 %. And these referendum posters with Mr Schaeuble :). 5 khronia sou roufaei to aima – toora pes tu okhi (sorry for not writing in Greek alphabet :).
5 years he has sucked you up / exploited you – now tell him no :). (sorry if translation is not correct, I translate from German newspapers).
I can ask a stupid question : what would you do if you were Mr Schaeuble :).
Finish the job the German resistance hero who made him a skater couldn’t finish because the security was too big?
Do you want Syriza to forbid people to print the truth?
First time Schäuble looked into a mirror!
Matey, plenty of people (who are not Greek) dislike the entire history of modern Germany and the current German Stasi. If you don’t know that, then you know nothing.
That coin has two sides, of course. BTW, there is no “current German Stasi”.
I guess the families and friends of the Turks and Greeks murdered by German XA with help by secret police will see this slightly different and also the families and friends of the hundreds of victims of the same connection that got covered up by police and media as normal victims of crime.
It was not possible for Merkel career in the party without being in Stasi, and that’s the time she fell in love with Putin: KGB-FDJ-connection, he taught her more Stasi like the Stalinist way of “reform” – that’s still until today every 2nd word of her – and she taught him German.
NSA is even more perfect Stasi and it were Stasi files that made it possible to bomb Baghdad
Xenos, Giaourti, your behaviour- naming people nazis, telling them to fuck off, is exactly what Syriza did from the start. This caused for a large part the mistrust that Greece and you may cost its future. And honest is honest: what comes around, goes around.
Giaourti is not even syriza. BUT: true! this nazi-rhetoric gets on my nerves and I will delete all comments mentioning this word.
Regardless of what this or any other blog-owner may think, I insist that putting the behaviour of Germans in a correct historical perspective is appropriate.
As for the approach of Tsipras to the negotiations is concerned, he was rejected by Merkel even before being elected and she failed to phone him on his election. This is normal diplomatic protocol and Germany chose to break it. The first person to congratulate Tsipras was the president of the USA.
This tells you all you need to know about the situation in Europe. Germany has led a political movement across Europe that is opposed to democracy, considers financial power to trump everything, and is determined to destroy any political party or country that stands in its way.
Now try telling me that this has nothing to do with recent history.