The meeting between Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and government Vice President Evangelos Venizelos which was arranged at 9am on Friday morning concluded shortly after 11am, without any comments being made.
The emergency meeting was arranged in order to discuss the latest developments in the critical negotiations with the troika. On Thursday it was suggested that there was a problem in the talks with the troika, as it appears that the Minister of Finances Gikas Hardouvelis was not going to respond to the troika request for further clarifications on Thursday.
Earlier Mr. Venizelos has referred to “the necessary guarantees that will be offered, provided the desire of the Greek people” which denoted that the Greek side will not be making any further concessions. Mr. Venizelos also spoke of expediting procedures for the Presidential elections and stressed that general elections were a possibility if Parliament fails to elect a new President.
Meanwhile, international news agencies reported that the Eurozone would examine the possibility of extending the Greek bailout program for six months, in order to cover any possible delays that may occur due to the Presidential elections. That way, Athens will be in the position to complete what is necessary so that the troika review can conclude and the remaining tranche is paid out.
The bailout extension is considered necessary since the coalition government is still in talks with its creditors regarding the necessary actions that need to be taken in order to collect the remaining 1.8 billion euros and to ensure the precautionary credit line (ECCL) following the end of the bailout program.
