The Greek Government has submitted a request to pay all installments towards the IMF in the end of June rather that throughout the month. The Alternate Foreign Minister for International Economic Relations, and the leader of the Greek negotiation team Mr. E. Tsakalotos explained that he was feeling shocked by the severity of the terms offered by Greece’s creditors. At the same time the Greek Ministry of Finance states that the European proposals will do nothing to reverse the downward spiral of the Greek economy and asks for the institutions return to realism. On the other hand, Mrs. A.Merkel states that Greece needs to try harder and insists that she is working hard to keep Greece in the Eurozone.
The Bank of Greece notified the IMF that Greece would not be paying 305m. euros that were due this Friday, but that it will pay the total amount of 1,56bn euros by the end of the current month.
Mr. Tsakalotos, who leads the Greek negotiations team, told Channel 4 reporter Paul Mason that he is shocked and furious with the provocative terms that the Europeans and the IMF have presented to Greece. He went on to clarify that the Greek government is pro-Europe ”…not as a tactic …(but)…as strategy,” since it truly believes that a breaking up of Europe would bring grave harm.
At the same time, the Greek Ministry of Finance issued a statement in which it invites Europe to return to realism: “After four months of negotiations, the institutions have submitted proposals which would be incapable of solving the crisis problem as this has been built by the politics of the past five years (…) Furthermore, the proposed measures would create even more poverty and unemployment. What Greece and Europe need, is a more realistic agreement/solution which would allow the rejuvenation of the Greek economy while showing social sensitivity. The Greek government has already submitted such proposals.”
From her side the German Chancellor A. Merkel, clarified that she keeps working towards a solution that would allow Greece to stay in the Eurozone, but she also warned that this is a procedure that needs to accelerate rather than slow down. “Our side is full of good will, but that is not enough. At the end of the day everything must fit together in order to have an agreement.”
While talking to the RTL, Mrs. Merkel denied that the IMF whishes to abandon the Greek rescue plan: “I have not heard that the IMF wants to leave. On the contrary the proposal that is on the table was brought together by all parties.”
Furthermore, the German leader stated that the starting point for any agreement is the current rescue plan. While talking to CNN about the meeting between Mr. Tsipras, Mr. Juncker, and Mr. Dijsselbloem, she commented that “in order to resolve the current crisis, a lot of effort is necessary form both sides.”