The Eurogroup scheduled for Wednesday evening in Brussels will be stage for the final talks between Greece and its international creditors, in pursuit of a mutually-beneficial agreement
While there has been optimism after Monday’s meetings in the Belgian capital, the IMF raised objections on recessionary measures contained in Greece’s proposal, while a number of SYRIZA MPs (Dimitris Kodellas, Alexis Mitropoulos, Eleni Sotiriou, Yannis Michelogiannakis, Kostas Lapavitsas and others) have warned that they will not support the agreement in Parliament.
Additionally, the Left Platform has escalated its polemic, stressing that the negotiations to keep Greece within the Eurozone “at all costs” has “failed spectacularly” and stressed that the Greek government should not back down from its claims and oppose the bailout agreements. The domestic reactions prompted the State Minister Alekos Flampouraris and Nikos Pappas to warn them that unless the agreement goes through parliament with the approval of the government majority, early elections may be called.
With Greece’s current financial aid program ending next week, leaving the country without any financing, any agreement to be reached at the critical Eurogroup will have tight deadlines. Nevertheless, market experts have not ruled out the possibility of the Greek government being presented with a counter-proposal which it will not be in the position to agree to.
The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has repeatedly stressed that any agreement signed must include provisions for debt relief. Specifically, the Prime Minister has underlined that the provisions must be more ‘concrete’ than the pledge for debt relief that was contained in the November 2012 agreement.
