The bell for the first round of the fight between Greece and the Eurogroup willring tomorrow in the Eurogroup extraordinary meeting for Greece.
In this first meeting, the new Greek government will meet its Eurogrouppartners and will look for a solution to what seems to be a real deadlock.
The Eurogroup is looking for Greece to maintain its obligations for therepayment of its loans and the continuation of the austerity program stipulatedby the previous government.
See also: If Greece is left to go bankrupt
The Greek government, despite this, does not refuse to repay its debts, butrefuses to continue with the austerity measures and repayment scheduleobligations assumed by the previousgovernment and is looking for a “new deal”which will allow the repayment of the loans based on a rescheduling and willsuspend austerity measures and introduce a series of provisions that will allowdevelopment.
However, the policy statement to the Parliament last Sunday of Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras alarmed the Eurogroup as the new provisions introduced(minimum salary at €751 per month, re-appointment of a series of dismissedcivil servants, etc.) give an end to the agreed (by the previous government)austerity program and will create more deficits.
What was seen as positive by Greece’s partners, was the determination of thePrime Minister to combat interweaved interests and oligarchs and put an end tothe fuel oil smuggling, which in Greece has been flourishing for many years.
The approach of the Prime Minister in his statement was in line with his pre-election campaign, but it had its reasons. The Greeks have had five years undertough austerity (it started with the George Papandreou government in 2010),have reached their limits and are at a point that if they do not get something,will start behaving asymmetrically. In this matter the Greeks are very difficult tomanipulate and unpredictable.
See also: Only Juncker can save Greece
Under the circumstances, the 11 February Eurogroup meeting will not be an easyone. From Brussels sources, we learned that last week, the Eurogroup president,without Greece having knowledge, attempted to come to an understanding withcertain Member States so to exhibit a common stance during the meetingtowards Greece. Yet, it seems that certain Greeks from within the “system”learned about it and blocked it.
On the other hand it seems that before the election, when the then governmentwas offered a six months extension of the program because of the election, itrefused and accepted only two, which will terminate at February 28.
The Eurogroup has the solution in its hands as it controls the cash. The Greekssoon will have no money to pay reduced salaries and pensions, not to speakabout the additional funds required to pay for the promises of the PrimeMinister.
This is a real, dangerous deadlock. If no compromise is found Greece will gobankrupt (in reality the country was bankrupted by George Papandreou in 2010)and then we will see a wave of street demonstrations in Greece and in the rest ofEurope starting from the south (Spain, France, Italy, etc.). This will open forEurope a new chapter of “Solidarność.”
Wojciech Jaruzelsk and the Soviet tanks could not win over Solidarność, aworkers movement started at Gdansk shipyards, and he was much more capableand determined than Jeroen Dijsselbloem and Angela Merkel together.
Therefore, the Eurogroup must accept the new Greek government as a newsituation, the result of the imposed austerity and as the first one of this kind inEurope. Others will follow.
Under the circumstances a new scheme should be searched for Greece but alsofor the other countries on the same situation because they will follow the Tsipraspattern.
Possibly the best way out will be to give time to Greece, by offering anadditional four month extension that was refused by the previous government.
In the meantime, in order to avoid the worse, all Eurogroup members must workfor a global, pan-European solution, based on the relaxation of austerity andaiming at development.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/new-solidarno%C5%9B%C4%87-making