Greek PM to meet Juncker in Brussels, host Coelho, Rajoy in Athens
After a flurry of meetings and telephone calls with European officials, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is set to meet with incoming European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels on Saturday where he is expected to emphasize Greece’s progress in reforms ahead of next week’s crucial negotiations with the troika in Paris.
Samaras is keen to push the Greek case with European officials in key posts as Athens seeks to capitalize on a series of positive economic indicators which suggest that the country is set to emerge from a deep recession later this year.
The premier is keen to be able to offer austerity-weary Greeks some prospects of relief when he makes his speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair on September 6.
Two days later, on September 8, Samaras is set to receive Pedro Passos Coelho the prime minister of Portugal, a country that recently emerged from its loan agreement with the troika to Athens. According to sources, Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy is due to visit the Greek capital too toward the end of October.
