Germany's
Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have spoken to Greek Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras to discuss the debt crisis. The deadline to reach a
deal runs out at the end of this month.
The call,
which took place on the eve of the G7 summit, seemed to suggest that the Athens
debt crisis could dominate the meeting of the seven nations. Tsipras himself is
not attending the meeting.
Sources
close to the government in Greece said that the three politicians agreed to
meet on the sidelines of an EU summit with Latin American and Caribbean
countries on Wednesday. G7 countries had meanwhile made up their minds to
display a united front when it came to Athens.
Frustration with Athens
Tsipras on
Friday urged his creditors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
European Central Bank, to withdraw "absurd" demands and unlock 7.2
billion euros ($8 billion) worth of funds for his country.
EU
Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker however showed his displeasure with Greek
leaders' reluctance to implement reforms. There were also rumors that Juncker
refused to speak with Tsipras when the latter called him, saying there were no
new developments to talk about. Tsipras' office said it was waiting for
"comments from EU institutions" on its financial suggestions.
Time is running out
Athens has
very little time to resolve its debt issues. Pressure has also increased after
Greece opted to postpone a key payment to the IMF on Friday and decided to pay
all its due loans, totaling 1.6 billion euros, by June 30.
Juncker met
with Tsipras and Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem earlier this week to
renegotiate terms, but to no avail. Tsipras and his left-wing Syriza party is
unwilling to implement cuts on pensions and salaries, but the IMF and the
European Central Bank (ECB) are unwilling to release the last tranche of a
240-billion-euro bailout package to the economically stricken country.
(Πηγή: dw.de)
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