Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis looks on during a press conference in Athens. Varoufakis was due meet his French counterpart Michel Sapin and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron in Paris later yesterday as a new agreement is negotiated to reduce Greece’s unmanageable public debt burden.
Reuters/Athens
Greece’s leftist government yesterday began its drive to persuade a sceptical Europe to accept a new debt agreement while it starts to roll back on austerity measures imposed under its existing bailout agreement.
After a turbulent first week in office, the new government has made clear it wants to end the existing arrangement with the European Union, the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund “troika” when its aid deadline expires on February 28.
Instead, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras wants to agree a bridging deal with the troika while a new agreement is negotiated to reduce Greece’s unmanageable public debt burden of more than 175% of its economic output is worked out.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who spoke to US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Friday, was due to kick off a diplomatic offensive in Paris later yesterday, where he meets French counterpart Michel Sapin and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron. He goes to London to see British Finance Minister George Osborne today and travels to Rome tomorrow.
Before the meeting Sapin repeated that Greece could not expect its partners to accept a straight debt write off. But he left the door open to other options that could include giving Athens more time for repayment.
“No we will not annul, we can discuss, we can delay, we can reduce its weight, but not annul,” he told Canal Plus television. He meets Varoufakis at 5 pm local time (1600 GMT) before a joint statement to media at 6.30 pm.
Tsipras himself is due this week in Rome and Paris, the two major capitals where his hopes for a sympathetic hearing are highest given French and Italian calls for an easing in rigid eurozone budget austerity.
He is also due to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker but has yet to say if and when he might meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel or Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble who refuse to consider any write-down of Greek debt.
At home, where Greeks have seen poverty and hardship reach levels unmatched anywhere else in western Europe, the government has wasted little time in making clear it intends to respect its election promises to end years of harsh austerity.
It has halted a series of privatisations it says amount to a disposal of strategic national assets at fire-sale prices and has announced plans to reinstate thousands of public sector workers laid off by the last government.
