Brussels, 07/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - Greek ten-year borrowing rates went beyond the symbolic rate of 10% on Wednesday 7 January, a level which has not been seen since 2013. The looming possibility of a victory for the radical left-wing party Syriza at the elections of 25 January is causing concern and reigniting speculation over the country's exit from the eurozone, although this is not one of Syriza's election pledges.
Whilst the Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, sought to calm things down by stressing in Le Monde that the Greeks' democratic choices would be respected, Manfred Weber, the German leader of the EPP (Angela Merkel's party) at the European Parliament, adopted a somewhat more alarmist tone on Wednesday. “It's up to Greece to decide which path it follows: with or against Europe”, Weber tweeted, tagging his ally Antonis Samaras, outgoing Prime Minister, who is up against Syriza's Alexis Tsipras. If Syriza wins the elections, the Commission's door “will be open”, Moscovici went on to tell Le Monde (our translation throughout). “We have to take these elections for what they are: a highly significant democratic event, but not the potential trigger for a crisis”.
Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, told Die Welt that the “unsolicited advice which gives the people in Greece the impression that it is not they, but Brussels or Berlin, who will decide on their future in this vote, may even push voters into the arms of the radical forces”.
The German daily Bild further upset the applecart on Wednesday, when it reported, on the authority of government sources, that Berlin was making “concrete” preparations for Greece's departure from the eurozone, notably to deal with a collapse of the banking system, should this arise. However, a German government spokesperson denied all knowledge of these plans at noon on Wednesday. “Greece's place is in the eurozone, whatever its next government may be”, said the French Minister of the Economy, Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with the French daily newspaper Les Echos, reiterating that whoever is elected “will have to keep their country's commitments”.
Lastly, Commissioner Moscovici pulled no punches when commenting on one of Syriza's election pledges: writing off part of the country's debt. “Debt is not created to be written off, it exists, it has to be repaid”, he said, adding that this could be done “over different periods of time”. (EL)