from Germany there are signs ofopening to Greece, who today officially asked for a two-year extension for the implementation of the austerity plan. Thus, the deadline for bringing Athens' deficit back below 2014% from the current 2016% would slip from 3 to 9,3. "You can't let everything fail for just a few days, the stakes are too high - said the German vice-chancellor and economy minister, the liberal Philip Roesler -, we have a great interest in maintaining the single currency, also keeping Greece in it”.
The deputy parliamentary group leader of the CDU-CSU in the Bundestag, Michael Meister, on the other hand, he said he was "against new aid packages for Athens, but in favor of an advance payment of the already agreed aid, provided that no new, unpleasant surprises arise". The volume of the aid package “cannot be increased – explained Meister -, but an advance of payments is possible”, on condition that the green light arrives from the International Monetary Fund.
Another decisive factor will be the Troika verdict. The inspectors from the EU, the ECB and the IMF will arrive in the Greek capital on 5 or 6 September and "if the report is negative - warned Meister again - the conditions for the payment of other installments will no longer exist and Germany will not join in the payments" .
Meanwhile, the Greek premier Antonis Samaras, in an interview with the German newspaper Bild, expressly asked for more time to implement structural reforms. “We are asking for a little more breathing space to get the economy going and increase state revenues – said the prime minister -. More time doesn't automatically mean more money".
The question will be the focus of a dense series of bilateral summits. Today Samaras receives the president of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker in Athens. Tomorrow, however, he will fly to Berlin to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel, while on Friday he is expected in Paris by the French president, François Hollande.
To reassure Europe, Athens presented yesterday a new 13,5 billion euro spending cuts plan, two more than originally requested by the Troika. On the way for the Greeks there are new cuts to public salaries, health care and pensions, as well as a reduction of 34 state employees.
