It is usually German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble who claims pessimism on solution ahead of crucial Eurogroup meetings. This time – for a change – it is the Greek government.
“We are far from finding a solution at the Eurogroup on Thursday, given that Germany has not taken any progress step,” a Greek government source told Athens Macedonian News Agency on Wednesday.
“If there is no positive move in the next few hours or during the Eurogroup meeting by the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeulbe, then it seems that the hot potato will be handed over to Chancellor Merkel,” added the same source.
On Tuesday, Wolfgang Schaeuble said he was confident that Greece and its international lenders will reach a compromise deal this week. “We’ll manage it on Thursday. You’ll see,” Schaeuble said during a panel discussion in Berlin. He did not elaborate and left Greeks wondering whether this would be another solution where Greece would be the loser.
Apparently, Schaeuble’s vision of Greek debt solution is exactly what Greeks are afraid of. Several named or anonymous EU officials have stated in recent days, that the Eurogroup will merely approve the bailout tranche and there would be no reference -how much more ‘a decision’ on debt relief measures or participation in ECB Quantitative Easing.
The Greek government brought back the idea that a European Summit could help break the deadlock.
According to amna.gr, Prime Minister has already agreed with European Council president Donald Tusk that if the Eurogroup fails to reach an agreement, the next morning the Greek government will submit a written request the Euro Summit (19 member states) to convene, on the sidelines of the Summit.
Relations between the SYRIZA government and the German finance minister were never good. In fact, Schaebule has repeatedly showed an obsession against the left-wing Greek government from the very beginning. First, it was eccentric finance minister Yanis Varoufakis who seemed to function like a red cloth in front of a ranging bull. When Euclid Tsakalotos replaced Yanis, Schaeuble projected his disdain against Tsipras.
Yesterday, he poured some of his poison saying “The Greek Prime Minister keeps calling again and again the Chancellor and she keeps telling him again and again Alexis, this is an issue for finance ministers.’
