Athens’ frustrated talks with creditors in the face of looming financial obligations and with state coffers running on empty generated, as expected, increased “doom and gloom” media reports focusing on the “Greek crisis”.
Reuters used a statement by SPD Secretary Yasmin Fahimi to convey the impasse, as the latter said the leftist Greek government was acting “increasingly irresponsibly, including towards its own country … The mood in the SPD party leadership is above all one of concern with regard to Greece,” she said, adding:
“Solidarity is not a one-way street. It is clear that we will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed.”
CNN followed by warning that radical leftist-led and recession-plagued Greece has “four days to get real”.
“Yes, you’ve heard it before. But this time, it’s for real: Greece is running out of time. To be precise, it has four days to accept the conditions creditors have attached to more bailout cash, or risk a financial crisis that could force it out of the eurozone,” was the CNN webpage article, linked with a television report.
Meanwhile, from Brussels, a Commission spokeswoman took the Tsipras government to task for the way it presented the latest round of negotiations between Athens and creditors.
Annika Breidthardt, a spokeswoman for European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, flatly denied the claims aired by Greek ministers of creditors demanding cuts to individual pensions.
“The proposals meet the needs of the Greek people, the Greek government, but also the other 18 (euro-area) member states,” she emphasized.
Breidthardt said creditors’ proposals included a target for a primary surpluses of 1 percent of GDP in 2015; 2 percent in 2016 and 3.5 percent until the year 2018.
In terms of the fiery rhetoric mostly heard domestically in Greece about social security reform, she said an overhaul envisions the phasing out of early retirement plans and extending the age of retirement by reversing incentives and instituting counter-incentives.
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Another development out of Athens has the leader of the centrist Potami (river) party speaking separately on the phone on Monday with Jean-Claude Juncker and EP President Martin Schulz.
Stavros Theodorakis, a newcomer to politics after a career as a television presenter, has been outspoken in his support for Greece’s European orientation and its membership in the eurozone, calling on the leftist government to seal a deal as soon as possible.
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