The possibility of an extention to Greece’s memorandum by six months was first put on the table at the Euroworking Group on November 27. The idea was raised straight after the failure of the Paris talks to ensure the visit to Greece by the troika of Greece’s international creditors from the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A meeting by assistance of the euro area’s finance ministries on Thursday showed that a number of European governments openly want Greece to stick to its bailout agreements for another six months.

For the 5th review to be completed by December 14, the troika representatives would need to visit Greece and begin their meetings on Friday so that decisions for an early exit to the bailout can be made in due time. The government is concerned by the stalling tactics that have been played out by the IMF and ECB with “sinister” connections between Berlin with the troika.

The government does not want an extension that would be 4-5 weeks beyond the planned evaluation and is not willing to submit to demands such as a drastic reduction to pensions, an increase in the pension age and new revenue measures for 2015.

The Euro Working Group on Thursday urged the Greek government and the troika to end the review by Sunday, December 14, so that the government can immediately request entry into the ECCL of the European Support Mechanism (ESM) as this would need to be approved by seven parliaments of the euro area prior to the Christmas recess.