Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that “The Netherlands will stop aid to Greece, if the International Monetary Funds stays out of the Greek program.” Dijsselbloem said this at the Dutch parliament and adding that the same is valid for the Greek Parliament.”
A day earlier, in his role as head of the Eurogroup, Dijsselbloem had slammed the IMF’s report as “outdated due to recent growth” and claimed that he was surprised by the “hardness” of IMF’s latest Greece report.
“Greece is doing better than IMF report suggests” the Eurogroup head stated.
Apart from being obviously overwhelmed by his dual role, Dijsselbloem has to face also general elections on March 15th 2017. Elections that are not a piece of cake and Dijsselbloem might have to give up his precious and beloved role as co-ruler of the eurozone next to his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schaeuble.
According to latest polls, the PVV or Freedom Party, led by far-right Geert Wilders, is in the lead. “The risks of the PVV winning are clear as this is an anti-EU party that has a desire to see the Netherlands withdraw from the EU if it gains power. There are widespread concerns the Netherland’s elections could be the first step in a sequence to a ‘Nexit’ and the break-up of the EU.”
While in Germany elections are scheduled for September, they are also no piece of cake either for Merkel’s and Schaebule’s Christian Democrats.
In public opinion polls, the social-democrats of SPD keep the speed up and win over the CDU.
On Monday, the German finance minister had stated through a spokesman that the German aid to the Greek current program will end if the International Monetary Fund remains out of the program.
“Without IMF participation, Greece’s current program is over,” Berlin said. In earlier reports, Schaeuble had claimed that if the IMF stays out of the Greek program, a further approval by the German Bundestag would be essential.
However, the Legal Department of the German Bundestag had suggested that this as not necessary.
Greece’s European lenders and the IMF gravely disagree on the sustainability of the Greek debt thus delaying the conclusion of the second review and increasing pressure on Greece to legislate now additional austerity measures to be implemented as soon as the second half of the 2018, when the current program ends.
Later on Wednesday, the IMF’s managing director Christine Lagarde stroke back at Dijsselbloem (the Eurogroup Dijsselbloem!) and said “We tell the truth and some do not like it.”
PS what the European lenders and the IMF are looking for is exactly …what?
What an a**hole. I can’t stand Schäuble who is just plumb mean, but this guy just takes the cake. He has the IQ of a slug. He lies about his academic credentials such as they are (Dairy Economics). And seems only intend on only brown nosing Schäuble and parading his dumb look from one lickspittle job to another. Every time I see him, I feel like I’ve just thrown up in the back of my mouth.