“There is no chance of the partners not backing down […] the point is to come to an agreement, not whether the deal will be postponed for a week” argued the Minister of State for Coordinating Government Operations Alekos Flampouraris [pictured] on SKAI.
Mr. Flampouraris added that Greece’s partners have not yet officially told the Greek government that the 26 proposal submitted by Athens do not include an honest compromise. The Minister further stressed that the government has received a mandate from the Greek people to provide a solution within the euro, with an honest compromise.
When asked about the possibility of early elections, as recently suggested in international media outlets, Mr. Flampouraris underlined that they had “no point”, since general elections were carried out only two months ago and “we were given specific orders, [which] we will implement”. The Minister outright rejected the possibility of early elections.
SYRIZA MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis also commented on Twitter that only German newspaper Bild wants early elections in Greece. Regarding the current negotiations, he also explained that the Greek government should work towards a solution that does not generate new deficits and address corruption in domestic affairs.
The Alternate Minister of International Economic Relations Euclid Tsakalotos told the Guardian that he is “absolutely confident an agreement will be reached on 24 April. Deals are always done five or three or one minute before midnight, it’s not unusual that they should go right to the brink”.
