Samaras to hold talks with Merkel in Berlin
Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras visits Berlin Friday where he is scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for talks.
Samaras will have a working lunch with Merkel at the chancellor’s office while he is in Berlin to give a speech at a business congress organised by a newspaper.
The meeting will take place a day after Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras tabled the 2014 budget in parliament without a rubber stamp from the troika.
Ahead of the meeting with the Greek prime minister, Merkel told the press that Greece was progressing well with its fiscal adjustment program while achieving a budget surplus this year, which few expected.
The German chancellor’s spokesman may have said earlier this week that “the meeting will have nothing to do with negotiations (between the Greek government and the troika), but it is just a good opportunity for Angela Merkel to be informed from Antonis Samaras himself, about what exactly is happening in Greece”.
The Greek government however hinges a lot more on this meeting than the German spokesman suggests. Antonis Samaras is hoping to get a message of support from the German Chancellor as talks with the troika inspectors have stalled.
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(Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras and German chancellor Angela Merkel. Photo: The Council of the European Union)
