The EZ ministers are now taking a dinner break after three hours of talks. Reuters reports that Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos was told that he must offer deeper reforms if there is to be a third bailout. He reportedly called Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to discuss these additional measures.
The Greek government appears willing to implement tough measures in order to regain trust. Germany is pushing for monitoring as Greece gets on with reforms – so much for getting rid of the Troika!
A government official, speaking with Yiannis Makriyiannis – Proto Thema’s correspondent to Brussels – said that the government is willing to go a long way to regaining European trust. Other government sources state that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras may create a special purpose government until September before heading to snap elections. There is pressure from Brussels calling on the country to not head to the polls soon as creditors want stability to be ensured when handing over such a large loan.
It appears that a provisional government may be set up with the participation of the main opposition conservative New Democracy government. Reports state that New Democracy leader Evangelos Meimarakis will be in Brussels on Sunday.
Reuters reports that there was concensus among the 18 ministers around the table that Greece must take more steps to convince them that it would honor any new debts.
A German SPD official told Proto Thema that the plan for a five-year Grexit is not the case, however Telegraph reporter Stefan Liefert tweeted that a “temporary Grexit” – though not discussed is on an internal paper that has been circulated.
