Brussels, 08/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On 8 April, Greece called for an end to the vicious circle of sanctions against Russia which it said was damaging its economy, but said that the lifting of European sanctions against Moscow should be linked to the implementation of the Minsk accords.
On an official visit to Moscow, where he was meeting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras did not manage to get Russia to lift its veto on the import of Greek farm produce because Putin said that Russia couldn't make exceptions for a single country. Putin said that the two men had discussed trade. “Until recently, Russia was Greece's main trading partner. As of last year, however, our commercial transactions have gone down by 40 percent,” commented Putin.
Tsipras's visit to Moscow generated a wave of warnings from European leaders earlier in the week. There was initially talk of Greece looking to Russia for a loan because the talks with the eurozone were advancing at snail's pace. “It's perfectly normal for talks to take place but I would urgently warn against getting closer. We are in the middle of final negotiations for financing for Greece and I don't believe that a good game is being played here,” warned Austrian finance minister Hans Joerg Schelling shortly before the Greek prime minister's meeting with the Russian president. The head of ALDE at the European Parliament, Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt, tweeted that “Putin cannot save greece, the EU can. The future of Greece lies within the EU. Tsipras should play according to the common rules and conduct serious reforms in Greece.”
Greece is not a door-to-door beggar looking for solutions to its economic problems in other countries, said Tsipras. Russia may, however, get involved in the privatisation of public entities that Greece has to sell off under its financial aid plan, such as gas infrastructure, explained Putin. Tsipras said: “I've heard a lot of comment on the part of European officials as to the Greek intention to restart its relations with Russia. Greece is a sovereign state and has the undisputed right to have a multifaceted foreign policy.”
On Wednesday, Greece found it easy to raise €1.14 billion in gilts to cover its cash-flow requirement at the same rate as for a similar bond issuance in March. The ADEDY trade union has announced plans for a demonstration against the repayment of a €450 million loan instalment to the IMF.
Experts from finance ministries met over dinner on Wednesday evening to prepare for the talks at Eurogroup in Riga on 24 April on the second Greek bailout. They examined progress in the talks with Greece on reforms that are required to be introduced for the disbursement of the last international aid instalments. The European Commission said on Wednesday that progress was being made “step by step.” (Elodie Lamer)