Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras accused Greece's creditors on Tuesday of trying to
"humiliate" Greeks with more cuts as he defied a growing drumbeat of
warnings that Europe was preparing for his country to leave the euro.
Financial markets, for months indifferent to
wrangling over releasing billions of euros of aid for Greece, reacted with
mounting alarm.
European stock markets hit their lowest
level since February and the risk premium on bonds of other vulnerable euro
zone states leapt in one of the sharpest episodes of contagion since the height
of Europe's debt crisis in 2012.
The White House warned that agreement was
needed to avoid shaking financial markets further and Tsipras assured U.S.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that Athens aimed to bridge the differences with
creditors.
But with senior German lawmakers now openly
discussing the once-taboo prospect of a "Grexit" from the single
currency area, his fiery words suggested confrontation rather than
reconciliation.
"I'm certain future historians will
recognise that little Greece, with its little power, is today fighting a battle
beyond its capacity not just on its own behalf but on behalf of the people of
Europe," he said in a televised speech to legislators in his Syriza party,
drawing loud applause.
Tsipras charged that the lenders were
politically motivated in demanding pension cuts and tax hikes that hurt the
poor, and their aim was to "humiliate not only the Greek government - this
would be the least important - but humiliate an entire people".
European Commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker reacted angrily, accusing the Greek prime minister of misleading the
public and insisting that he had made clear that he was personally against
hiking taxes on power and pharmaceuticals. "And the prime minister knows
that," he said.
The rhetoric from Athens left it unclear
whether Tsipras was preparing to default and risk economic collapse as the
price of standing firm, or betting - wrongly according to creditors - on a
last-minute effort by Europe to save Greece.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has
held repeated phone calls with Tsipras in recent weeks to press him to agree on
reforms with EU/IMF negotiators, struck a despondent note, saying it was
unclear if a deal could be found when euro zone finance ministers meet on
Thursday in Luxembourg.
"Unfortunately, there is little new to
report," she told a news conference, repeating that Greece must meet its
obligations. "I have always said I want to do everything possible to keep
Greece in the euro zone. I remain dedicated to that."
(Πηγή:
reuters.com)
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