The Minister of Finances Yanis Varoufakis will attend the most critical Eurogroup debate for Greece today in order to set the ground for a “high level agreement” at the Eurogroup session scheduled for Monday the 16th of February.
On Tuesday the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke with the Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker, with sources from Brussels noting that good intentions and a willingness to cooperate were expressed. These developments however do not ensure the outcome of the negotiations today.
Earlier on Tuesday, the German Minister of Finances Wolfgang Schäuble threatened that if the Greek government does not want a new bailout program “then that’s it”. He further stressed that he wants to hear something “binding from Athens”.
Mr. Schäuble also refuted rumors of discussions for a 6-month plan by the Commission. This is in reference to a leak from the Greek Ministry regarding unofficial talks about a 6-month bridging program that is being debated with the Commission.
Mr. Varoufakis will attend the Eurogroup to present a costed bridging program for until the end of August. He rejects 30% of the “toxic”, as he calls them, bailout measures and demands the abolition of the troika.
In essence, Athens wants a “double naming” solution for this transition program, which the Eurogroup will consider a technical extension of the existing program and Greece will call a bridging program.
