The leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s parliamentary caucus says he hopes the Greek government will “see sense” and reach an agreement with its creditors.
Volker Kauder told the German Parliament it’s up to Athens to comply with the conditions for its bailout. He said that “we have really done and offered everything possible, but now it is Greece’s turn.”
He said that Europe will have problems “if everyone thinks he can do and not do what he wants and that he can blackmail the others.”
Kauder said Thursday: “this Greek government is acting against the interests of its people. You have to tell the population how things really are so that you can change things.”
Tsipras visits Russia
While his country is locked in talks with its European creditors, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is traveling to Russia on Thursday to meet President Vladimir Putin.
His visit has given ground to speculation that the Greeks could be seeking Russian loans.
Asked by The Associated Press whether Russia is going to offer Tsipras money on his visit, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said he “cannot comment on specific decisions.”
Without new loans, Greece will struggle to make a 1.6 billion euro ($1.8 billion) debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund on June 30.
Merkel: Europe stronger than before
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the eurozone is in a stronger position than it was five years ago as it grapples with the renewed crisis in Greece.
Merkel noted during a speech to the German Parliament on Thursday that Germany’s aim has always been for “Europe to come out of the crisis stronger than it went into it.”
She says the continent has come a long way – “how far can be seen in the fact that Europe is coping very differently with the current situation in Greece than it would have done five years ago, at the beginning of our reform measures.”
Merkel says “Greece has enjoyed an unprecedented amount of European solidarity in the last five years.” She stressed countries must make efforts of their own in exchange for aid.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing Greece to deliver on commitments to carry out reforms, stressing before a meeting of eurozone finance ministers that she wants the country to remain in the common currency.
Merkel said in a speech to the German Parliament Thursday that Greece’s government in February “committed itself to comprehensive structural reforms. These must now be tackled with determination.”
Merkel stressed that “Germany’s efforts are directed to Greece remaining in the eurozone.” She reiterated that “where there’s a will, there’s a way – if the political leaders in Greece show this will, an agreement with the three institutions is still possible.” That was a reference to Greece’s international creditors.
Greece needs to unlock loans from its creditors before June 30, when its bailout program expires.
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