Tsipras to seek support for Greek proposals as pressure for deal builds
Next week is likely to be decisive for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his government, which is under mounting pressure to secure a deal with the country’s creditors before cash reserves run out, with the premier likely to engage in high-level meetings to discuss Greece’s counterproposals to a reform plan put forward by creditors.
Apart from a scheduled meeting of leaders of European Union and Latin American countries that is to take place in Brussels on Wednesday, it is expected that Tsipras will try to create other opportunities before the summit to meet with EU decision-makers in a bid to secure political backing for Greek proposals. Tsipras has indicated that he is unwilling to make further concessions to creditors but sources suggested the Greek side could cede some ground on fiscal targets and on an overhaul of the value-added tax system. It remains unclear, however, whether Athens is prepared to offer the bold reforms, particularly in the thorny areas of pensions and the labor sector, that creditors have been pushing for.
Speculation has intensified over a possible “interim” solution, another bailout extension with a moderate cash injection that would allow Greece to fulfill its obligations at home and to international creditors, and ward off the specter of default and a possible Greek eurozone exit. Such a stopgap solution would likely put off contentious issues such as pension and labor sector reform until the fall, when talks on further support for Greece, probably a third loan program, would be able to take place.
But even as money runs out and the economy tanks, Tsipras faces fierce opposition to concessions from within leftist SYRIZA but also from members of his cabinet. The unrest has fueled speculation about the possibility of early elections even as Tsipras insists he wants a deal with creditors, albeit on Greece’s terms.
On Saturday key ministers played down the prospect of snap polls. “There is no reason for elections,” Health Minister Panayiotis Kouroublis said, adding that he “strongly believed” Athens would reach a deal with creditors. Energy Minister Panayiotis Lafazanis, who heads SYRIZA’s radical Left Platform, also appeared to play down speculation, saying the government already has a full mandate to enforce its program.
Though said to be irritated by Greece’s approach to negotiations, Europeans are pushing for a solution. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel warned that Greece had no further room for maneuver. Asked if he expected an agreement soon, Gabriel told German daily Stuttgarter Nachrichten: “That depends solely on
the Greek government. Europe has gone up to its limits.” He added that there was a mood in Germany for Greece to leave the eurozone but conceded that “this would get very expensive for sure.” Gabriel criticized Tsipras who, he claimed, is “not willing to tackle the issues that need to be solved. He’d rather put them onto the shoulders of the European taxpayers. But this won’t work.”
