The Greek crisis ramped up a gear last night when, at the start of supposed “last chance” talks in Brussels, EU negotiators told the Greek delegation that “negotiations were over”.
Running short of cash to pay public sector salaries, pensions and debt obligations, Greece’s Syriza has laid out what it will and will not negotiate with its creditors, but will it be enough?
European officials trying to secure a last-minute deal in the debt stand-off between Greece and the IMF now have to anticipate the threat of revolt within the country’s ruling Syriza party.
After a frantic weekend the Greek government sought to break the deadlock in its talks with lenders today by reshuffling its negotiating team.
While the Riga Eurogroup meeting on Friday is not the last chance Greece has to be rescued, it is probably the last chance for it to achieve a result outside of crisis measures.
It’s the meeting that had to happen. A radical left-wing Greek prime minister and a centre-right German chancellor whose ministers have been urging her to throw Greece out of the eurozone.
The European deal done six days ago was supposed to stabilise the Greek debt crisis. But the situation in Greece is still critical.
Instead of “we were kicked out”, it would be sold as “we escaped” – and I think however positively today’s deal is spun, the push for Grexit will grow stronger as constraints become obvious.
There is a sea change going on within Syriza. I’ve heard people who were staunch believers in a euro that can accommodate by negotiation a radical left government say, effectively, they were wrong.
The eurozone and IMF have done a deal with Greece, extending its bailout for four months in return for a commitment to run all policy measures with significant economic impact past the lenders.
Today is the Greek equivalent of Gettysburg. After the ECB agreed to extend emergency lending for Greek banks for only a few days, the Greeks have until tonight to reach a compromise deal.
Greece begins to cave in on a bailout deal offered by eurozone authorities, but Germany rejects the new proposal for an extension – so the poker game is not over.
The Eurogroup finance ministers have just broken up without agreement over a programme on the Greek debt.
The exit polls put the far-left party Syriza on track to win the Greek election. If the predictions hold this is an earthquake: for Greece, for the eurozone and for centrist politics.
The ballot stations are still brisk at lunchtime, but a lot of people have already voted. This is a working class community – and on a Sunday the over-70s, who make up 22 per cent of Greek voters, are out in force.