The Greek government is hopeful of coming to an agreement by the end of May, commented government sources, following the conclusion of Tuesday afternoon’s government council meeting. The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who presided over the meeting, explained that there has been significant progress at the recent Eurogroup and stressed that so far Greece has adhered to the 20 February agreement.

As such, Greece has demonstrated its respect for the Eurozone’s processes, laws and framework of operation, meaning that it is time for the country’s partners to demonstrate their respect towards the people’s democratic decision, within the common European framework.

Mr. Tsipras underlined that his government must protect workers, pensioners and families, who have suffered from the bailout-mandated austerity. Government sources noted that the possibility of a referendum or snap elections was not discussed.

Earlier, a minister told journalists that the pension system and VAT reforms are still open, that there was some agreement on restoring collective bargaining and that the issue of collective redundancies has been resolved. Given the recent Eurogroup statement, it seems that few issues remain unresolved, so further efforts are required to come to a final agreement.

New government council meeting on Wednesday

The Prime Minister has called a new government council meeting for 6pm on Wednesday, in an effort to resolve all open issues and close a deal by the end of May. Athens believes that an agreement by the end of the month is possible.