A strange silence is hanging over the Greek battle field. Exhausted physically and mentally German, Greek and IMF soldiers are hiding in the trenches, tired of the frequent battles and the dirty conditions of the economic warfare. It is the monotony between the bailout program review battles, the constant threat of a Grexit, the dull mantras of ticking clocks, the struggle to reach a last minute agreement, the lack of willingness to step down from unrealistic austerity demands and the impending possibility of a terminal impasse that have paralyzed every brain cell of emotionally drained negotiators at the edge of a nervous breakdown.
Let’s not have any illusion. The negotiations are between Greece, Germany and the International Monetary Fund, the rest of the players like European Commission and the Eurogroup are just the decorative garnish in a field of extreme combat situations that have been repeating again and again.
Today, Wednesday, at 1:32 pm local time, it’s all quiet. There is there is nothing new to report on the Western Front of Greece’s creditors.
An hour earlier, government sources told media that the Greek negotiation team has not received any official response or comment to the Greek proposals submitted on Monday to EC Commissioner Pierre Moscovici and the Institutions.
At the same time, German and French sources told Reuters that there was no appointment for a meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the sideline of the EU leaders Summit this evening in Brussels.
A kind of ‘formal answer’ to Greeks came by EC spokesman Margaritis Schinas who said during a press briefing that
“For this final push, the Commission is of the view that the ball is now clearly in the court of the Greek government which needs to follow up on the agreement at the meeting with President Juncker last Wednesday night.”
He said that Moscovici verbally informed the Greek delegation that the “last Greek proposal was not in the context of the discussion with Juncker. Schinas said that preconditions for a meeting between Tsipras and Juncker were “clear” – in the sense a meeting could take place if progress was made. He added that negotiations on technical level are continuing.
The Greek government insists, however, that there was no briefing by Moscovici and that it heard about the creditors’ position on the televised interview of Margaritis Schinas.
According to latest reports coming from Brussels, the negotiations are currently stuck on a 0.25% difference on the primary Surplus for 2015. Greece wants 0.75%, creditors want 1%. Unbelievable? You name it…
*the first paragraph of the post was inspired by WWI drama “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque.
PS is it the quietness before the storm? does this “silence” hide a lot of activity and noise in the underground?
This ping-pong game has really become mind-numbing. Okay the creditors are afraid to concede an inch to Greece as they are afraid Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain (and maybe others) will then start also making demands. I say, so what!! It is time for reform in the whole Union to make for a healthier and more sustainable Europe. A Europe for the people (I can dream!)and not solely for the anointed few!
I agree.
That´s the key point. In a ideal world all would agree (like Varoufakis keeps saying) “It is time for reform in the whole Union to make for a healthier and more sustainable Europe”. But do not forget the last sentence “A Europe for the people (I can dream!)and not solely for the anointed few!”, well this is exactly what they want to prevent and the “anoited few” will use all their weapons to stop this from happening, including kicking greece out of the euro if it does not accept total surrender. So the Greek people will have to make a choice, either surrender or prepare to leave the euro.
Leaving the euro does not mean leaving europe or trying to get a better more just Europe, actually it might be a pre-condition to achieve a better europe…
Yes, the relations between Greece and the “institutions” has a lot of similarity to World War I. And like that war, the casualties are already high and pointless, with the final outcome likely to be unstable and leading to future conflicts. Well done, Europe — for repeating all the stupidities of our past and learning nothing from the extensive archives of political and economy history. Your politicians, with their trivial university diplomas, have failed their basic school examinations.
This remains me about communist slogans… and pure communist only exist in N. Korea and Cuba. Or an Europe for compulsive spenders?! This means a huge inflation and everyone will lose.
According to reports, Germany is planning to offer staggered (i.e., partial for the moment) reform / austerity commitment (at least one) in exchange for bailout extension and partial aid. See for example here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/germany-said-to-consider-offering-tsipras-staggered-deal-on-aid
Any thoughts whether the Greek government will call it a victory and accept the German proposal or insist on no austerity at all?
you did well until … the link and then you screwed it lol
Before Tsipras won elections, Greece were out from recession, and very close to get a good deal from creditors. After 6 months, Greece is again in recession, and Tsipras will get a worse deal than Samaras. However, Tsipras and his finance minister got a lot of publicity and and we saw a lot of drama in news. All worse for Greece….This remind me about “communist” productivity…
what out of recession? what good deal? what are you talking about? Greece – creditor negotiations failed in Nov 2014 because Troika wanted 2.5 bill euro measures and Samaras govt was offering 950 million. Why do you think Samaras accelerated Presidential elections to December? because he knew he could not reach any deal with creditors and even if, some of his own coalition MPs would not vote it. He wanted to throw the troika-austerity-ball in Tsipras court.
Facts Distortion is not a well-paid job, is it?
@Dan. If you are going to recite the Troika idiotic propaganda relating to the HAHA “success” of the Memorandum in Greece, it would be better to confine yourself to an audience that is ignorant of the reality. That would include Germans, Brits, Dutch,.. well, almost anyone except professional economists and Greeks!
Then why did Samaras quit?
The troika didn’t believe in the fair numbers in November and that the numbers were wrong was revealed by the statistics that were routinely published in April.
Do mean with “good deal” the famous 48-email sent to Troika by Gikas Hardouvelis a day or two before the Greek “bank run” started?
See the Bloomberg website. In 2014 Greece’s economy expanded 0.8% (out of recession), but contracted again 0.2% (recession) the first quarter of 2015.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-13/greece-returns-to-recession-as-bailout-impasse-drains-economy
So, as I understand somebody pay Bloomberg to distort the fact. 🙂
When Bloombergers don’t get paid they will join forces and start journalism again
S&P further downgrades Greece. “The Greek government will likely default on its debt within twelve months” Sure S& P is paid by Tsipras’s enemies as well. See the link http://seekingalpha.com/news/2573725-s-and-p-further-downgrades-greece?app=1&uprof=51#email_link
As long S&P are lazy money greedy bastards only useful for other money greedy bastards that get a nervous breakdown after half an hour real work in a factory, burned out for years and traumatized by what? Work!
If Standard and Poor’s ever had any credibility, it was completely lost with the financial crash and their complete ineptitude in assessing credit risk. Their amateurish approach may be accepted by the markets — although there is doubt about that — but their grip on economic and political reality is so tenuous now that they can be laughed at. They are just corporate timewasters.
That the markets must be idiots one could see when normal savers took their money months before the elections and the markets didn’t see nothing.