Tsipras: Greece will stay in the euro zone
The Greek prime minister has promised that “there will be a solution to the Greek debt crisis that will allow the country to return to growth while staying in the eurozone.”
Alexis Tsipras said Friday a solution “would be based on EU rules and democracy, which would allow Greece to return to growth in the euro.” He said that “all those who are betting on crisis and terror scenarios will be proven wrong.”
The prime minister also said he is looking forward to the emergency summit Monday that eurozone leaders are holding in an effort to seal a deal with Greece over its debt crisis.
Tsipras said the summit is “a positive development on the road toward a deal.”
The meeting of finance ministers of 19 eurozone countries will be crucial in determining whether international creditors will unlock another $8.2 billion in bailout funding ahead of a June 30 deadline, by which Greece has to repay $1.8 billion to the International Monetary Fund.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Greece had presented a “comprehensive proposal” at a meeting Thursday in Luxembourg with its international creditors that could “resolve the Greek crisis once and for all.” He said the two sides had come close to an agreement, but failed because negotiators on the other side lacked a mandate to strike a deal.
International creditors demanded Greece propose economic reforms that could break the impasse in bailout talks. Greece was unequivocally denied any possibility for a delay or a grace period to repay the IMF.
Eurozone President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Greece has to take “further steps” to obtain a lasting deal that “needs to hold up in the coming years to be credible.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is Greece’s main creditor, told German lawmakers in the parliament earlier Thursday that she was “still confident” that a deal was possible.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he was optimistic Greece will deliver new proposals, which would be considered immediately.
Schaeuble had maintained a strong stance from the onset that Greece should fulfill its obligation to international creditors before any additional financial help is considered.
Source: VOANews.com
(Photo of Tsipras and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker: Prime Minister of Greece/flickr.com)
