Following the announcement today that the German government has rejected a request by Athens to extend its €172bn bailout, Greens/EFA economic and finance spokesperson Sven Giegold said:
The Greek government request for a technical extension of the program is good news and shows a clear willingness to compromise on a reasonable way forward. Wiping-out such constructive approach is irresponsible and dangerous as it dramatically increases the risk of a ‘Greexit’ which would carry politically and economically devastating consequences for both the euro area and Greece. The Greek government made a move as it has committed to refrain from unilateral action and work on the basis of already agreed conditions with a view of replacong ongoing measures with more socially and economically belanced ones. Concrete agreements on structural reforms could be defined as conditions for the payment of each tranche of the overall assistance. It is now utterly urgent that the German government and the Eurogroup to stop playing power games and to show their capacity to deliver compromises in the interest of both Greece and the rest of the EU.
Ernest Urtasun, MEP said:
“Greece is showing a clear commitement to agree with the Eurogroup. It is time for the governments of Germany and Spain to stop blocking the agreement. Requests put forward by Minister Varoufakis are absolutely reasonable and would allow Greece to remain in the eurozone while adressing the humanitarian urgencies of the country”.