Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras launched a desperate bid to win fresh aid from skeptical creditors at an emergency euro zone summit today, before his country’s banks run out of money.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on arrival there was still no basis for reopening negotiations with Athens.
«It is not a matter of weeks but of a few days» to save Greece from collapse, Merkel told reporters.
With Greek banks down to their last few days of cash and the European Central Bank tightening the noose on their funding, Tsipras tried to convince the bloc’s other 18 leaders, many of whom are exasperated with five years of crisis, to authorize a new loan swiftly.
Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said after conferring on Monday in Paris that the door was still open to a deal to save Greece from plunging into economic turmoil and ditching the euro.
Merkel, under pressure in Germany to cut Greece loose, made clear it was up to Tsipras to present convincing proposals after Athens spurned tax rises, spending cuts and pension and labor reforms that were on the table before its 240 billion euro ($262.7 billion) bailout expired last week.
Euro zone finance ministers complained that their new Greek colleague Euclid Tsakalotos, while more courteous than his abrasive predecessor Yanis Varoufakis, had brought no new proposals to a preparatory meeting before the summit.
«I have the strong impression there were 18 … ministers of finance who felt the urgency of the situation and there is one … who doesn’t feel the urgency of the situation,» Belgian Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt said.
Greek officials said the leftist government broadly repeated a reform plan Tsipras sent to the euro zone last week before Greek voters, in a referendum on Sunday, overwhelmingly rejected the austerity terms previously on offer for a bailout.
Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb said Greece would submit a formal request for a loan from the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund within a few hours.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, chairman of the «Eurogroup» of common currency finance ministers, said the finance ministers would hold another conference call on Wednesday to review the Greek request for a medium-term assistance program.
Reflecting the irritation of several ministers, he said the Eurogroup was still awaiting a Greek letter with one clear set of proposals.
A Greek government official retorted: «Some are maintaining ‘we don’t have proposals’… Is it really that ‘we don’t have proposals’ or is it that they don’t like our proposals?»
Tsipras was to meet jointly with the leaders of Germany and France, the currency area’s main powers, and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker before the summit begins at 6 p.m. (1200 ET).
Source: Buenos Aires Herald