The negotiations with the representatives of the three institutions – the EU, ECB and IMF – are set to begin in Brussels today, while the Minister of Finances Yanis Varoufakis is in Paris, where will meet his French counterpart Michel Sapin. The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has arranged to meet with the OECD chief Angel Gurria on Thursday.
The General Secretary of Fiscal Policy Nikos Theoharakis and Mr. Varoufakis’ consultant Elena Panariti, along with officers from the State Treasury, will remain in Brussels for the negotiations. The question that remains though is whether the technical teams of the three institutions will head to Athens for talks with the government.
Rumors of a visit to the State Treasury on Wednesday have been disputed, however there may be developments over the next few days. The head of the Economic Advisor Council (SOE) Giorgos Houliarakis has retuned to Athens from the Belgian capital, perhaps to receive and discuss with members of the technical teams.
The German Minister of Finances Wolfgang Schäuble argued that the institutions do not work independently, but as a while the Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem has repeatedly stressed for the need to begin talks in Athens as well, as soon as possible.
Government sources in Athens however warn that here is no chance of a repeat of the situation with the previous government, where the technical teams traveled from ministry to ministry to talk to state officials. They did however note that individual representatives from each institution may visit Athens, in order to be informed on specific matters.
