What next for Greece? Govt eyes European Council at Latvia for deal

Greek government wants technical talks to stop and for negotiations on Greece to continue at a political level

A Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) cabinet meeting assessing the plight of Greek negotiations with the country’s international creditors took place on Tuesday. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that the previous day’s crucial Eurogroup meeting in Brussels showed a “significant progress in negotiations.”

The government has clarified that it has reached its limit as far as negotiations are concerned and hopes to reach a final agreement in May. “Whatever we could agree on has been arbitrated at a technical level. We have reached our limits as far as compromise is concerned. There is no further chance of convergence at this level. Continued talks with technocrats mean that Greek authorities would need to further back down on issues and adhere to their directions without retaining the ‘red lines’ stated and without any concession on their part,” say government ministers involved in talks.

Along the same lines, Tsipras said: “The Greek side has so far fulfilled, to the fullest extent, all that has foreseen in the Eurogroup decision of February 20. It has taken more steps towards European partners, demonstrating respect for procedures, laws and the Eurozone’s framework of operation. Now it’s the partners’ turn to take the necessary steps so that they can demonstrate, in practice, their respect for peoples’ democratic verdict, within a common European framework,” he said, refering to the most recent election in Greece.

He repeated that his government could not allow any more austerity measures aimed against wage-earners and pensioners. He cited what he called “protection for the working-class family” that has been devastated by five years of fruitless memorandum-mandated austerity.

The Greek side is now preparing the ground for its participation at the European Council of EU leaders at Riga, Latvia, at the end of next week. Tsipras hopes to identify a new framework for discussions now that the technical talks have reached saturation point.