Updated Greek proposal ‘non-negotiable,’ Berlin says
Michael Fuchs, the outspoken deputy parliamentary floor leader of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, has voiced skepticism over prospects of a swift deal on Greece.
In an interview with Bloomberg television ahead of a possible EU meeting in Brussels later Wednesday, Fuchs said the latest proposal by the leftist government in Athens was “non-negotiable.”
“It is far from the bailout extension we agreed in February and what we agreed with [former conservative prime minister Antonis] Samaras,” he said.
Nevertheless Fuchs said, it was Berlin’s “wish and will” to keep Greece in the euro area.
“But they need to come up with serious proposals; and what they have come up with so far is not serious at all,” he added.
Meanwhile Wednesday, officials in Athens suggested that the government had not received official feedback on its latest proposals.
The updated blueprint was submitted to EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Monday.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was due in the Belgian capital on Wednesday with the key goal of meeting Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on the sidelines of a summit of leaders from European Union and Latin American countries and achieving a political breakthrough to slow-moving negotiations on a reform deal.
