The future of Greece is in the hands of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande who are to meet with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the sidelines of the EU-CELAC summits on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels. The meeting takes place amid concern that time is running out for the country, with pressure being applied for Athens to take more measures than the ones offered in a 47-page text that had been submitted by the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government to cover the fiscal gap in the country’s finances.

Greek State Minister Nikos Pappas and Greece’s Alternate Minister for International Economic Relations, Euclid Tsakalotos, in Brussels since Monday, worked hard to ensure that the trilateral meeting would go ahead following reports that it was being postponed.

Athens now appears to be caving in but is keeping some red lines concerning pension cuts and labor. SYRIZA has agreed to lift the primary surplus to 0.6% of the GDP initially proposed to 0.75% instead of the 1% that Greece’s creditors have called for.

The SYRIZA leadership is feeling just as much pressure from within its own party as it is from creditors. On Tuesday, 22 SYRIZA MPs asked the Greek PM for collective bargaining to be restored and the minimum wage raised despite lenders calls for a rollback.

Other meetings 

During the EU-CELAC summits, Tsipras will also meet with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Ecuador President Rafael Correa, Cuban Vice-President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Argentina’s Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman.