German parliament approves Greece bailout extension

The German parliament has approved the four-month extension of Greece’s bailout program.

According to reports, the German parliament agreed to provide Athens with financial aid for four more months on Friday.

This is while some German lawmakers had expressed skepticism over Greece’s promise to stick to its current bailout program before the voting session.

“Many MPs are agreeing (but) only with a big ache in their belly,” said Gunther Krichbaum, the chairman of the Europe Committee in the German parliament, adding, “They’re not ready for more concessions.”

Earlier in the day, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble called on the parliament to approve the deal, reassuring German lawmakers that Athens would not get “a single euro” without fulfilling its commitments.

“No change is being made to Greece’s bailout program. The deal is the same. We are just providing time for the deal to be successfully implemented,” he added.

On Wednesday, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis (pictured above) said Athens and its international creditors should renegotiate the country’s massive debt “immediately.”

Varoufakis’s comments irked the German officials who believe that Athens may renege on its pledges with regard to economic reforms.

Anti-government protests in Greece

On Thursday, fierce clashes erupted in the Greek capital Athens between riot police and hundreds of anti-austerity protesters, who were angry with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras over what they called was reneging on his pre-election promises.

The initially peaceful rally, believed to be the first public show of anger against the premier’s leftist Syriza party, convened some 450 far-left demonstrators on Thursday, protesting the government’s decision to extend Greece’s bailout deal under a new agreement with the country’s international creditors.

On February 20, a tentative agreement to extend Greece’s bailout program by four months was reached during preparatory talks between Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

However, Greece was asked to submit a list of proposed reforms to the European Union (EU) in order for the agreement to take effect. The reforms were later approved by Eurozone finance ministers.

Athens-EU conflict

Over the past weeks, Athens and the EU have been at loggerheads over the country’s bailout loans.

The government of Tsipras, whose leftist Syriza party stormed to victory in January 25 elections, has tried to renegotiate the terms of the country’s €240-billion (USD 270 billion) bailout it received in 2010 in return for imposing harsh austerity measures.

During his electoral campaign, Tsipras vowed to reconsider the austerity measures that have caused mounting dissatisfaction in the country.

The measures have forced people to endure multiple tax increases, along with cuts in pension and salary, in exchange for bailout loans by the troika of lenders - the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB).

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