Greek Politics
Coalition defends deal with lenders, opposition exerts pressure
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to step up his efforts to present last Thursday’s Eurogroup agreement in the best possible light, before he leaves for the European Council later in the week.
Tsipras eyes next step after mixed Eurogroup deal
The government began on Friday the task of talking up the agreement that it reached with its creditors at the Eurogroup but immediately came under fire from the opposition.
Greece gets bigger tranche from Eurogroup but Tsipras misses other key targets
Thursday’s Eurogroup in Luxembourg ended in an agreement that will see Greece receive another 8.5 billion euros in loans but fell short of giving the International Monetary Fund the clarity it wanted on debt relief measures in order to immediately join the Greek programme with new funding.
Greece secures next bailout tranche, moves towards deal with lenders
Greece and its lenders appeared on Thursday to be on the way to an agreement that would provide Athens with its next bailout tranche and little more clarity on debt relief, but not the level of detail that Athens had hoped over the past few months.
Rhetoric ramped up ahead of Eurogroup but deal still in sight
As Thursday's Eurogroup approaches, Athens and Berlin are dialling up their rhetoric but an agreement that will fall short of Greek expectations while still leaving Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras with something to grasp on to still seems the most likely outcome of the meeting.
Expectations for deal on Thursday rise as Athens tempers own
An agreement at Thursday’s Eurogroup seems the most likely outcome even though Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras repeated his warning on Tuesday that he would take the matter to the European Council a week later if there is no deal.
Athens banks on French support for debt relief and growth
The Greek government is due to welcome French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire to Athens on Monday as it heads into the last few days of intensive negotiations before Thursday’s Eurogroup.
Athens ties up prior actions, IMF hints at programme role
Government MPs were due to vote on Thursday afternoon a series of last-minute amendments aimed at ensuring that Greece has completed all 140 of its prior actions ahead of Thursday’s Eurogroup.
Greece eyes higher growth as possible catalyst for Eurogroup deal
In an apparent change of direction, the Greek government appears to have pinned its hopes for an agreement with creditors at the June 15 Eurogroup on the possibility of the country’s growth projections being revised upwards and this feeding into the debt relief measures that will be needed.
SYRIZA holds fire as Eurogroup expectations continue to be lowered
A meeting of SYRIZA’s political secretariat on Tuesday resulted in the party reaffirming the government’s insistence that it will not implement the fiscal measures lined up for 2019 and 2020 if the International Monetary Fund does not join the Greek programme with funding.