Stournaras to face ‘impatient’ eurozone peers in Brussels
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras was to face his eurozone counterparts in Brussels on Friday for a Eurogroup summit where Greece was not top of the agenda but officials were likely to press the Greek minister for a quick solution to dragging negotiations between Athens and the troika.
Friday’s Eurogroup was to focus on the budgets of countries that are not under supervision in connection with loan agreements from international creditors. Nevertheless Stournaras was expected to come under fire by his peers for delays in the troika talks.
The head of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, was quoted on Thursday as saying that Greece must hurry to reach an agreement with the troika as “many eurozone finance ministers have started to lose patience.” Dijsselbloem’s comments, published in Ta Nea on Thursday, provoked anger in the Maximos Mansion as they contrasted with words of encouragement by German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of an official visit to Berlin by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
