The next meeting between the Greek government and the Troika is to take place on “neutral territory” in Paris, not Athens. Sources from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, the European Commission and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ office yesterday confirmed that the next round of talks scheduled for September 3-5 are to be held in the French capital where neither of the three sides have their headquarters there.

The Greek side made this request following the recent trip by auditors to Greece headed by Poul Thomsen of the IMF.The visit had been “sensationalized” placing pressure on Greek ministers.Furthermore, the vision of Greek lenders entering and leaving the country only servied to build up tension The government also feels that this is a good way to place a time limit on negotiations that tend to drag on for weeks when Greece’s lenders are in Athens.

The Paris meeting will be attended by Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis, the prime minister’s adviser Stavros Papastavrou, Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis and Development Minister Nikos Dendias who will assess how far Greece has progressed in reforms.