Preparations for troika talks in Paris gather pace
Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos met with PASOK officials on Monday as the party decided who would represent it at the upcoming talks between Greece and the troika in Paris, a meeting for which the government is preparing intensively.
The Socialists will send Christos Protopappas and Kyriakos Pierakakis to Paris on September 3, when Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis will lead the Greek delegation. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s adviser Stavros Papastavrou will also be part of the entourage heading to the French capital.
Samaras is yet to return from his short break in the Peloponnese as he has been suffering from back pain. However, it is he and Venizelos who will have the final say later this month on Greece’s negotiating strategy for the meeting with the troika representatives. Samaras and his aides are hoping that the Greek side will be able to return from Paris with positive results that the prime minister will then be able to stress in his speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair a few days later.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed on Monday that civil servants would not lose their jobs or suffer wage reductions if they perform poorly in upcoming public sector evaluations. The relevant amendment was published in the Government Gazette.
