Everything postponed: Greece will only present its request to extend the loan to the Eurogroup future. This was reported by a government official. Previously, the spokesman of the Executive, Gabriel Sakellaridis, had announced from the microphones of the TV Antenna that today the Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis he would have sent a letter with Athens' requests (there was talk of a six-month extension) to the president of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem by today.
To those who had asked him if the basic text of the new request was the one already rejected by Dijsselbloem during the meeting on Monday (the so-called Moscow program, from the name of the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, author of the mediation attempt), the spokesman replied that the deliberations aim to find a common ground. I think we are at a good point – he added -. We come to the table to find a solution." In any case, Sakellaridis also reiterated that the government in Athens would not back down on the "red lines" which he considers non-negotiable.
The Moscovici scheme envisaged a four-month transition plan, acceptable for Athens (which also seems oriented towards asking for a broader extension, equal to a semester), but rejected two days ago by Dijsselbloem, who presented another, very stiffer. Precisely because of this contrast, Monday's negotiations ended in stalemate.
"I am working together with Dijsselbloem to reach an extension of the existing programme, in order to extend the time until the summer", said the president of the EU commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, to the weekly WirtschaftsWoche, specifying that the goal is to give the representatives of the Eurozone and the Greeks more time to agree on a new program of reforms and growth for Athens.
From the German Finance Minister, Wolfgang SchaeubleHowever, another sign of closure has arrived: the extension of the aid program to Greece "is not acceptable - he said - and will not be accepted without Greece's commitment to carry out the agreed reforms".
In any case, today's date remains decisive for Athens, since the ECB he will decide whether to confirm, deny or extend ELA, the support program for the country's banks, without which Greek institutions would risk finding themselves without liquidity in the short term. Also in this case the greatest pressures for the non-extension of the program come from Germany.
