German Chancellor Angela Merkel is reportedly very close to conditionally supporting Athens in its quest to scrap legislated pension cuts.
According to a report in the Athens daily Kathimerini, the German Chancellor has already made known her position to back Alexis Tsipras, ahead of the next Eurogroup.
That support will be offered with very specific conditions.
The first precondition set by Berlin is reaching the 3.5 percent primary surplus target in 2019.
Merkel, like other European partners, is keen on Greece fulfilling its obligations, straight on the heels of the completion of the last bailout programme.
The second precondition is that in order to secure Berlin’s support on the pension issue, Athens must commit itself to not canceling any other reforms agreed to with creditors in the future.
As the report indicates, Merkel’s apparent shift is not linked only to the Greek economy. The Chancellor wants no further unrest in the eurozone, given the economic situation in Italy.
Sources say that the pension cuts issue is expected to be formally decided at the November Eurogroup meeting.
