At a press conference following the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) on Sunday 10 June, the Greek Prime Minister said that he was hoping for a conclusion to the third monitoring mission of the third bailout plan “with great speed”.
Tsipras is to convene a meeting of his cabinet “so the necessary action can be taken for the completion of the third review as soon as possible”, the newspaper Ekathimerini reports. The conclusion of this third monitoring mission would allow the Hellenic Republic to close the door on the third bailout plan, the second review mission of which was concluded following an agreement at the Eurogroup on 15 June of this year (see EUROPE 11810). “The end of the Greek crisis will be the end of the European crisis”, the head of the Greek government added.
Stressing that the participation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the plan was not crucial to Greece, Tsipras nonetheless called for it to take position by the end of the year. Readers may recall that at the Eurogroup meeting on 15 June, the IMF made its participation in the third bailout plan conditional on the viability of the Greek debt, which could be achieved by measures to relieve it. On Thursday 20 July, the Washington-based institution gave its agreement in principle to pay Greece €1.6 billion in 2018 if it receives “specific and credible assurances from Greece's European partners to ensure debt sustainability” (see EUROPE 11835). However, the German government and Wolfgang Schäuble have so far refused to commit to Greek debt relief and the German elections of 24 September are expected to be a decisive factor in this. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)