The Minister of Finances Yannis Stournaras stated that “everything is on the table in the negotiations with the troika” as he prepares for the next three critical days, when everything will be decided and the financial and political circumstances of the next few pre-election months will be determined.

There is not much room for error for the Greek side. The loan installments are necessary and it is not easy to cover those funds from other sources. The government is in a tough spot as it simply doesn’t have the 15 billion euros it needs from the bailout to cover the bonds that mature in May and other public sector obligations.

Under this light, addressing the prior actions to the greatest degree is paramount and only individual regulations may be shelved until the next round of talks.

On Wednesday a senior financial player claimed that “we will grit our teeth this time and carry on, assuming the political weight and responsibility for the state of the country”.

This means that the government will try to cover the troika’s demands to a great extent and demand more time and tolerance regarding certain matters, such as collective redundancies and the distribution of the primary surplus, so that it does not appear totally inconsistent with its promises and commitments towards the Greek people.

For once again though, at the very last moment of the critical negotiation for the collection of a significant sum, the political leaders appear trapped between necessity and the political cost. There is no worse scenario in a negotiation. There can be no resistance with a raised out hand, “aggressive begging” quite simply does not fly these days and as such, we seem to be faced with a painful settlement, more than anything. It is unfortunate that the current situation is associated with the current program’s loan installment and not the Greek demand for a new settlement of the public debt. This discussion has not been initiated and will not be initiated before the European elections, as many counted on and expected.

The European election will unfortunately take place under pressure from abroad and will likely influence the election outcome and the conditions under which the negotiations take place for the monumental debt matter. The negotiation conditions are not expected to improve. The politics of outstanding matters is not yielding any results. On the contrary, it is favoring the conditions for extending the country’s financial and political dependency on partners and lenders.

Antonis Karakousis