EU rules out any final deal on Greece bailout
High-level talks between leaders of Greece and the European Commission are not expected to conclude in a final deal on Athens’ bailout program, officials in the EU say, a sign the two sides are far from reaching a consensus on handling Greece’s massive debt.
A spokesman of the European Commission said Wednesday that talks between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the head of the European body, Jean-Claude Juncker, will not end in a permanent outcome.
“We do not expect any final outcome tonight, this is a first discussion not a concluding one,” Margaritis Schinas told a news briefing about the meeting, which is scheduled to be held at 1830 GMT in Brussels.
Schinas said that meeting is just based on Junker’s “personal invitation” to Tsipras, rejecting claims by Greek officials that the high-profile gathering could result in an agreement on the country’s bailout program.
Officials in Greece’s ruling Syriza party had said that the meeting should have a deal at the end; otherwise, they would not make a debt payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the coming days.
Tsipras on Wednesday called for the international creditors to show “realism” in dealing with the issue of Greece’s debt.
Greece wants the last tranche of its bailout, worth € 7.2 billion (USD 7.8 billion), to be unlocked to repay its debts to the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB). The €300-million payment due on June 5 is the first of four this month totaling €1.6 billion.
Gaps remain
Earlier in the day, Juncker reiterated that gaps still remain between the EU and Greece and it will be too soon to talk about a final deal.
“I still have some problems to sort out in connection with what we call the Greek case, which will require me to hold various meetings today, including one with the Greek prime minister,” Juncker told a development conference.
Athens received two bailouts in 2010 and 2012, worth a total of € 240 billion (USD 272 billion) from the so-called troika of international lenders following Greece’s 2009 economic crisis.
The government of Tsipras has tried to renegotiate the terms of the country’s bailout which Athens had received in return for imposing harsh austerity measures and carrying out deep reforms in the economy.
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