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[4 reports from English language Greek media, d] Tsipras refuses to give ground in halted talks I Kathimerini, Athens, June 15 <http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_15/06/2015_551094> Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is due to speak to SYRIZA MPs on Monday amid growing pressure from lenders to accept their proposal for breaking a deadlock in bailout talks, which the Greek leader has so far refused to consider. SYRIZA’s parliamentary group is due to convene at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the wake of talks between a Greek delegations and representatives of the country’s lenders failing to achieve a breakthrough in Brussels over the weekend. Before speaking to his lawmakers, Tsipras is due to meet the new PASOK leader, Fofi Gennimata, To Potami chief Stavros Theodorakis and New Democracy deputy Dora Bakoyannis. Ahead of these meetings, Tsipras remained defiant Monday. He issued a statement saying that his government would not give in to demands for pension cuts. “One can only suspect political motives behind the institutions’ insistence that new cuts be made to pensions despite five years of pillaging by the memoranda,” the prime minister said in his statement. “We will patiently wait for the institutions to adhere to realism. This is not a matter of ideological stubbornness. This is about democracy,” said Tsipras. His comments were echoed by spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis in his regular press briefing. “We have largely reached our limits,” he said, adding that the country’s lenders would have to show a willingness to compromise before Athens could offer any more concessions. Despite the breakdown of the Brussels discussions, the Greek proposals leaked by Kathimerini showed that Athens has now accepted the lenders’ primary surplus targets of 1 percent of GDP for this year and 2 percent of GDP in 2016. Where there are still major differences is in the adjustments needed to value-added tax and cuts to pensions in order to hit those targets. The Greek delegation left Brussels on Sunday with a difference of 1.2 billion euros in the amount of measures needed for this year alone. However, Greece’s lenders insist that they have backed down on fiscal targets to help secure a deal. “It’s not a one-way street,” European Commission spokesperson Annika Breidthardt told a press conference. “The concessions... made and the flexibility that has been shown are already quite substantial.” Breidthardt said the institutions are seeking savings of 1.8 billion euros per year from pension reform, whereas the Greek proposals for phasing out early retirement would lead to savings of just 71 million euros. The distance between the Athens and its creditors following the weekend, and ahead of a Eurogroup meeting on Thursday, has led to further speculation about what might happen if Greece fails to secure an agreement by the end of the month and defaults. “We should work out an emergency plan because Greece would fall into a state of emergency,” German EU commissioner Guenther Oettinger said. “Energy supplies, pay for police officials, medical supplies and pharmaceutical products and much more” needed to be ensured, he added. Government and creditors dig heels, deadlock continues The government and the creditors stuck to their respective positions after the collapse of talks, while Germany's EU commissioner talked about a "state of emergency" Times of Change, Greece, June 15 <http://www.thetoc.gr/eng/news/article/government-and-creditors-dig-heels-deadlock-continues> Alexis Tsipras ignored pleas from European leaders to act fast. Instead he blamed creditors for the collapse of the cash-for-reform talks on Sunday, the biggest setback in long-running negotiations to secure more aid for Greece. Germany and other major creditor countries demanded that the Athens government come to its senses and offer new proposals. "It won't work that Greece sets the terms and says 'everyone has to dance to our tune'. Greece needs to get back to reality," Volker Kauder, parliamentary floor leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, told ARD television. The European Commission said it would only resume mediation efforts if Greece put forward new proposals, while the Greek government spokesman said Athens would stick to its rejection of wage and pension cuts and higher taxes on basic goods. . . . Despite the deepening crisis, Sakellaridis said Tsipras was going ahead with a planned visit to Russia from Thursday, the day euro zone finance ministers hold a crucial meeting in Luxembourg to review the standoff with Greece. He is due to stay till Saturday, attend an economic forum in Saint Petersburg and meet President Vladimir Putin. EU officials said that without improved Greek proposals by Thursday, the Eurogroup would be very tough and was likely to present Greece with an ultimatum. "No more new proposals; take it or leave it time is upon us, I think. Or very close." one eurozone official said. While there was little sign of public panic in Athens as Greeks held out hope for a last-minute solution - a familiar theme over the past six years as Athens has lurched from one crisis to the next - the latest impasse triggered a selloff in European and Asian shares and weighed on the euro. "There is worry among savers and we have received phone calls but so far today we have not seen significant outflows at ATMs or branch counters," one Greek banker said. Global financial markets suffered their first bout of significant contagion from the Greek crisis this year when bond markets across the euro zone signalled alarm. The premium investors demand to hold Spanish, Italian and Portuguese government bonds over low-risk German Bunds hit 2015 highs. . . . "We should work out an emergency plan because Greece would fall into a state of emergency," Germany's EU commissioner Guenther Oettinger said. "Energy supplies, pay for police officials, medical supplies, and pharmaceutical products and much more" needed to be ensured. The chief European Commission spokesman distanced himself from Oettinger's remarks when asked whether the EU executive was pursuing such a plan, saying Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had been very busy trying to mediate an agreement. Greek FinMin: We Will Not Sign an Extension of the Crisis by A. Makris The Greek Reporter, June 15 http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/06/15/greek-finmin-we-will-not-sign-an-extension-of-the-crisis Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, speaking to radio station “Sto Kokkino,” on Monday appeared optimistic about the next day of the interruption of the negotiation. “Today is a very nice day, we have finally come to the moment of clarity. Yesterday Greece said enough is enough, it is now the Europeans’ turn to take decisions,” he said. “Today is a good day because things have cleared out. The Eurogroup‘s message has been clear since the beginning; either you sign the memorandum or the country goes on the rocks. We began a negotiation process. At last we arrived at the point where Europe must decide whether it is interested in the Europe of the peoples. By no means will we sign an extension of the crisis. We do not have a mandate from the Greek people to sign an agreement that will release the next tranche and continue indefinitely the recession,” he added. (source: ana-mpa) German Press: Eurozone to Impose Capital Controls on Greece if No Deal Is Reached by Katerina Papathanasiou - The Greek Reporter, June 15 <http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/06/15/german-press-eurozone-to-impose-capital-controls-on-greece-if-no-deal-is-reached> A new summit of EU leaders will be held next Friday if Greece and its international creditors do not reach an agreement during the Thursday Eurogroup. According to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, there will be no solution on Greece, once again, in the new meeting of Eurozone Finance Ministers and the country will be asked to proceed with a special law that will provide control over capital movement. It also pointed out that if the Greek government does not vote such a law, it will be isolated from the financial system. However, according to several other sources, European countries will seek a political solution for Greece during the new summit and Athens will eventually move to an extension of its current bailout program until November, receiving further financial aid of €25 to 35 billion. On Mon, Jun 15, 2015 at 7:37 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > > FT, June 15 2015 > Both sides in Greek bailout crisis harden positions > Kerin Hope in Athens, Peter Spiegel in Brussels and John Aglionby in London > > Both sides in the deadlocked Greek bailout crisis hardened their positions > on Monday, a day after the collapse of the latest talks to broker an > agreement between the cash-strapped government in Athens and its > international creditors. > . . . _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
