The government is considering how the technical teams of Greece’s creditors may return to Athens, so that discussions may begin as early as next week. The government has stressed that the days of the imperialist troika arrivals is long gone and is gradually forming the Greek team that will negotiate with the technocrats.
On Thursday morning however, the government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis appeared on Mega Channel and officially disputed plans for the “troika’s” arrival. According to Ta Nea, as soon as the recent Eurogroup agreement was achieved, Athens made it clear that under no circumstances would it accept a repeat of the previous troika model.
Since then, both sides have been considering options so that the reforms and plans can be implemented. The creditor representatives clarified that the technocrats would not visit the various ministries in Greece all together, bur rather in groups. The Greek government rejected this proposal, arguing that the teams have negative connotations.
Another point of disagreement between Greece and its creditors is the items on the agenda that will be discussed. The Greek government wants only select issues to be discussed, while the creditor representatives are in favor of putting “everything” on the table.
Nevertheless, Ta Nea reports that both side are willing to move forwards and there seems to be a preliminary plan for a 20-strong team of creditor representatives. All that remains is for PM Alexis Tsipras to approve of the plans, so that they may travel to Athens next week and begin talks, as both sides want to see the Greek economy get back on track as soon as possible.
