Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had a final chance to present credible reform proposals to an emergency euro zone summit on Tuesday to persuade sceptical creditors to reopen aid talks before his country’s banks run out of money.
With Greek lenders down to their last few days of cash and the European Central Bank tightening the noose on their funding, Tsipras must convince the bloc’s other 18 leaders, many of whom are exasperated with five years of crisis, to authorise negotiations fast on a new loan to rescue Greece.
But Greek officials said the leftist premier’s proposals would not go far beyond a plan he sent to the euro zone last week before Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected the austerity terms of a bailout in a referendum on Sunday.
The leaders of Germany and France, the currency area’s two main powers, said after conferring on Monday that the door was still open to a deal to save Greece from plunging into economic turmoil and ditching the euro.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, under pressure in Germany to cut Greece loose, made clear it was up to Tsipras to come up with convincing proposals after Athens spurned the tax rises, spending cuts and pension and labour reforms that were on the table before its 240 billion euro bailout expired last week.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, under suspicion from both sides for trying to broker a last-minute deal, told the European Parliament: “There are some in the European Union who openly or secretly are working to exclude Greece from the euro zone.”
Read more at Reuters
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