BRUSSELS/ATHENS — Eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday dropped plans for a face-to-face meeting on Greece’s new international bailout, saying party leaders in Athens failed to provide the required commitment to reform.
With the European Union (EU)’s patience at breaking point, ministers downgraded the talks to a telephone conference call, almost certainly killing off any chance they would approve a €130 billion ($170 billion) bailout yesterday which Greece needs by next month to avoid a messy bankruptcy.
Ministers in the Eurogroup said Greece had failed to say how it would fill a €325 million gap in budget cuts promised for 2012 and to persuade all party leaders to sign a commitment to implement austerity measures after an election expected in April.
A government source said late on Tuesday Antonis Samaras, who will probably be the next prime minister, would sign the commitment yesterday morning — again running up against a deadline and infuriating EU leaders.
Samaras has criticised the measures, which parliament passed early on Monday as rioters wrecked buildings across central Athens. He says the cuts could plunge the country, already in its fifth year of recession, into an even bigger slump.
When parliament debated the austerity package on Sunday, he indicated that he would try to renegotiate the terms of the bailout, increasing doubt in the minds of European leaders.
“So far Samaras has not given a letter of commitment and this is a problem,” a source familiar with the bailout negotiations said on condition of anonymity. Samaras’s New Democracy party declined to comment.
Time is running out for Greece as it faces a chaotic default if it cannot meet €14,5 billion in debt repayments due on March 20 and its brinkmanship has forced some EU leaders to suggest Athens should leave the eurozone currency union.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
But European Council president Herman Van Rompuy said in Beijing leaders would do all they could to keep the 17 country eurozone together “because at the heart of the project, is the peace, prosperity and democracy in the European Union”.
“So don’t underestimate the strong political will to defend the eurozone and that’s the message we want to convey,” he said.
In China with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to try to secure investment for the ailing union, the two leaders presented a vision of a stable bloc, committed to protecting its members.
China said it would not cut the share of euros in its reserves, maintaining its stance. Any bigger role in solving the debt crisis would be via the International Monetary Fund and European Financial Stability Fund, China’s central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, said in a speech at a university.
