Brussels, 25/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 25 July, a European Commission representative said that the troika (European Commission, ECB and IMF) would be sending fact-finders back to Athens in September. Greece has to repay more than €3 billion to the European Central Bank on 20 August this year, but the Commission says that “technical solutions” will be found to short-term liquidity issues, which will be discussed with the Greek government. The September fact-finding mission will make a full assessment of progress in applying the Greek recovery programme. The current mission, which began on Tuesday 24 July, aims to get the programme up and running again (see EUROPE 10661).
Addressing MPs from his party on Tuesday evening, the Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, said: “We will not aim for a renegotiation from a position of greater weakness and exasperation.” He told the country's lenders that the Greek government was planning to prove its credibility by sticking to the objectives set out in the current bailout programme. Samaras expressed veiled criticism of Germany's economy minister, Philipp Rösler, and others who have expressed scepticism about Greece being able to meet its commitments. Commenting on these comments, Samaras said: “I say it openly and publicly, they undermine our national effort. We do all we can to bring the country back on its feet and they do all they can so we can fail.”
Against this backdrop, the meeting on Thursday between Samaras and the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, comes at a timely moment. On Wednesday, Greek newspaper Ethnos reported online that EU sources say the idea of the meeting is to give Athens reassurance about support from its European partners, and increasing pressure to ensure the reform progress is speeded up. If it is not speeded up, Reuters reported on Tuesday that European sources are considering the option of the ECB and eurozone nations restructuring the country's debt. Contacted by this newsletter, an ECB source would not confirm this.
The Greek privatisation agency, has appointed Takis Athanasopoulos to take over from Kostas Mitropoulos, who resigned last week, accusing the new government of vetoing decisions. (EL/transl.fl)