-ECB officials accompanying Mario Draghi in Brussels also confirm an agreement
-It is final: According to protothema.gr information from Brussels a deal has been reached at Eurogroup to extend the loan agreement.
-Agreement text reached in negotiations between IMF’s Christine Lagarde, the EC’s Pier Moscovici and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, FinMins Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Schauble and was presented to the remaining 16 Finance Ministers once the Eurogroup started.
-Shortly after 19:00 pm (GMT) with approximately 3 hours delay Eurogroup meeting begins.
– Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had telephone contact with the President of the European Council Donald Tusk
– Info on reaching an agreement
-Euro strengthens right after information on reaching an agreement
– Info on reaching an agreement
– Positive feedback 20 minutes in Eurogroup
-Brussels sources report that steady progress towards an agreement are made in writing and not just verbally
The Greek delegation is optimistic prior to the Eurogroup. According to sources, an informal negotiation team between IMF’s Christine Lagarde, the EC’s Pier Moscovici and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem was formed to act as mediators between FinMins Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Schaeuble.
This “triad” is meeting with both FinMins separately in order to examine their positions and find the required convergence point which will ensure a deal going off without a hitch, even before the official start of the Eurogroup.
However, this Eurogroup is not like last Monday’s. There is a clear backing by Franco-Italian sources towards Varoufakis.
Wolfgang Schaeuble stated that it is a matter of trust and accountability in the Eurozone and towards other members, as he arrived to the Eurogroup. He clarified that it is not a matter of each specific country, but a matter of each country trusting the other.
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