(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)Ahead of a summit of eurozone leaders Greeces new Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos made his first appearance at a Eurogroup meeting with his counterparts.
Demonstrators wearing masks of Alexis Tsipras Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande during ademonstration in Paris against austerity measures in Greece. — AFP
Brussels — Greece did not come up with a “concrete proposal” at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Tuesday according to the Maltese premier despite European pressure on Athens for a new debt plan.
“The absence of a concrete proposal by Greece government doesn’t help this evening’s eurozone leaders’ meeting” Joseph Muscat wrote on Twitter ahead of an emergency summit in Brussels later on Tuesday.
The leaders of the 19 countries in the euro area including Greek leftist Alexis Tsipras were due to meet two days after Greece rejected in a shock referendum the terms its creditors offered for a new EU-IMF bailout. Ahead of the summit Greece’s new Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos made his first appearance at a Eurogroup meeting with his counterparts.
A European source close to the talks said Greek authorities had come to the Eurogroup without a “letter” or written document. But reform proposals were still discussed at the meeting according to a European diplomatic source.
“They are in the process of finalising the drafting of these proposals” that are “quite similar” to those made last week by creditors the source said.
The radical Tsipras is under strong pressure from European leaders — angered by the referendum result — to submit new bailout proposals as fears grow for the Greek economy with banks closed until at least Thursday. On Wednesday Tsipras will also address the European Parliament in Strasbourg a government source said.
Valdis Dombrovskis EU Commissioner for the euro said ahead of Tuesday’s meetings that a so-called “Grexit” from the single currency “cannot be excluded”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande presented a united front when they met in Paris on the eve of the make-or-break summit urging Tsipras to make “precise” proposals in order to restart talks.
Their tough stance was echoed by eurozone finance ministers and officials meeting hours before the summit who warned that without a “credible” reform plan from the Greeks they could rule nothing out.
“Personally I am sceptical a deal will be found” Slovakian Finance Minister Peter Kazimir said.
When asked if a “Grexit” from the single currency was possible Dombrovskis said: “If trust is not rebuilt if there is no credible reform package it cannot be excluded”.
Tsipras is expected to call for debt relief to cut Greece’s massive €320 billion ($350 billion) debt mountain but that is a red line in many European capitals especially in Berlin and the newer eastern members of the eurozone.
Paris and Berlin remain divided despite the Merkel-Hollande display of unity with Germany’s Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel insisting that talks on reducing Greece’s debt were impossible before Athens implements reforms.
But French Prime Minister Manuel Valls insisted that a Greek exit from the currency it joined in 2001 was not an option drawing the line much more firmly than austerity-minded Berlin has so far.
“France is convinced that we can’t take the risk of Greece leaving the eurozone” Valls told French radio adding that France would do “everything” to keep it in. A bridging loan is another possibility to get Greece through a payment of more than €3 billion to the European Central Bank on July 20.
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