The otherwise so slow-paced European Union was quick to react to the social measures Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced five days ago. The country’s European creditors decided to freeze the minor debt relief for Greece in protest at Greek government’s Christmas bonus to low-pensioners and scrapping upcoming Value Added Tax hikes to islands hit by the Refugee crisis.
The spokesman of Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem tweeted the EU “decision” – although there was no Eurogroup meeting or a teleconference, but most likely a single e-mail sent from Berlin, containing a single word “NEIN”:
Statement on #greece pic.twitter.com/7kmVmf0eQJ
— Michel Reijns (@MichelReijns) December 14, 2016
Institutions? What “institutions”? It was no coincidence at all that the “institutions” and “the Eurogroup” decided to freeze the debt relief only after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble described Tsirpas’ social measures as “unilateral action.“
EU Commissioner for economic and financial affairs, Pierre Moscovici, took aim at International Monetary Fund’s claims on Greek debt. He warned against “political impossible” demands like asking austerity measures for after 2018, when the Greek program concludes. Moscovici praised Greece for having made “unprecedented efforts” including “major reforms of the pension, personal income tax and VAT systems”.
“The political leaders of the eurozone and of Greece’s creditor institutions must now take the initiative,” Moscovici wrote in an article published by the Financial Times. “We need all partners on board, taking a shared responsibility in achieving this.”
Apparently, Moscovici was not timely informed about the “institutions” decision or he just keeps working of the surreal theater script on “EU’s hypocrisy”.
The music!Splendid!
