Austrian chancellor due in Athens
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann is due in Athens on Tuesday, where he will meet with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras amid rising concerns of a Greek default after talks with international creditors reached another deadlock on Sunday.
Faymann, who has been seen as largely sympathetic to Greek positions, said on Monday that recession-hit Athens’s demand for a change of course was “perfectly understandable.”
“Greece constitutes a warning on what happens when one applies only austerity,” Faymann told Greek state agency AMNA ahead of his visit.
Some sources suggested early Tuesday that Faymann may be coming to Athens with an alternative proposal from eurozone lenders to present to Tsipras, though this was not confirmed by official channels.
Last week Faymann said efforts should aim to create a mid-term outlook for Greece’s finances, rather than focus on short-term solutions that merely help the country move from one crisis to another at ever-shrinking intervals.
“Mid-term solutions, also as envisaged by the Commission, of course require intensive talks with Greece and then to make a plan for five years,” Faymann was reported by Reuters as saying.
