German ultimatum to Greece: Reform or leave Eurozone

Published time: 5 Dec, 2016 07:50
Edited time: 5 Dec, 2016 08:13

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Greece to carry out unpopular reforms if it wants to stay in the Eurozone, ruling out debt relief for Athens. The warning may signal yet another emergency in the continent already beset by multiple crises.
As Eurozone finance ministers prepare to meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss short-term debt relief for Greece, Schaeuble delivered an ultimatum to Athens: the country, which already has a staggering €330 billion ($349 billion) debt burden, must reform or face an exit from the EU.

“Athens must finally implement the needed reforms,” Schaeuble told Bild am Sonntag on Sunday. “If Greece wants to stay in the euro, there is no way around it – in fact completely regardless of the debt level.”

To secure new loans from European financial institutions, Greece has to ‘liberalize’ the labor market, particularly by allowing companies to fire employees more easily and with less legal obstacles. Among other unpopular measures is Brussels’ proposal to curb certain rights of Greek labor unions.

Schaeuble added that Athens must not rely on any assistance from international creditors at the moment, saying, “It will not help Greece.”

The German government has promised not to request their parliament for more money for Greece unless the International Monetary Fund (IMF) resumes lending to Athens.

The IMF in turn says that new loans are not an option unless it is reassured that Greece’s debt burden is sustainable. The Greek government, currently led by left-wing party Syriza, has long argued that the country’s overwhelming debt load is the main obstacle to sustainable growth.

Governor of the Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras said new measures were needed to ease Athens’ debt burden. “We’ve made clear that there is no chance we’ll accept what the IMF demands on [austerity] measures and labor reforms,” Tzanakopoulos said, as quoted by Reuters.

Athens has received three international bailouts since 2010, and its debt, at about 180 percent of GDP, is still the highest in the Eurozone, amounting to over €300bn of emergency loans.

The news comes as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi suffered defeat at the referendum he proposed, in which most bills would only need approval from the Chamber of Deputies to become law, with the exception of passing constitutional reforms or ratifying EU treaties.

During the campaign, Renzi argued the new reforms would boost economic growth and prevent Italy from going into political gridlock.

Greece's international debt bailout is again pushing the eurozone back into crisis.

Zanimljiva pesma grčkih marinaca.

Germany admitted that crippling austerity measures would destroy Greece, claims former finance minister, who secretly recorded meetings and warns of Theresa May 'capitulation' over Brexit
Former Greek finance minister says he was told by German counterpart that measures were 'bad for your people'
He claims his memoir shows how far Germany will go to protect single currency
Varoufakis said Theresa May should avoid negotion with EU 'at all costs'
He claims Germany blocked a Chinese rescue deal for Greece

By DAVE BURKE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 13:39 BST, 29 April 2017 | UPDATED: 13:46 BST, 29 April 2017

Greece's former finance minister claims he was warned by Germany that austerity policies would cripple his country - but he was forced to agree to them anyway.

In his new memoir, Yanis Varoufakis claims German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble candidly admitted to him that he would not have endorsed an EU-ordered austerity plan.

Varoufakis claimed Schauble told him: 'It's bad for your people.'

The former Greek finance minister claims to have secretly recorded his conversations with top figures, and says his experience showed how far Germany was willing to go to protect the single currency.

During one of these conversations, he said former US president Barack Obama agreed that 'austerity sucks', but said he could do nothing to influence Germany.

In his new book, The Telegraph reports, the former Greek finance minister claims Germany blocked a Chinese rescue deal for Greece.

He also warned British Prime Minister Theresa May not to expect the EU to play fair during Brexit negotiations.

He told The Telegraph: 'My advice to Theresa May is to avoid negotiation at all costs. If she doesn't do that she will fall into the trap of Alexis Tsipras (former Greek prime minister), and it will end in capitulation'.

He ttempted to re-negotiate Greece's relationship with the EU, but found his actions simply provoked the anger of European leaders.

His new book is named Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe's Deep Establishment.

In one exchange he said he asked Schauble whether he would sign up to the EU's austerity measures, to which his German counterpart responded: 'As a patriot, no. It's bad for your people.'

Vatra se sirila ogromnom i iznenadjujucom brzinom, opkoljavajuci ljude. Podsjeca na onu tragediju na Kornatima, gdje se dogodio neki termodinamicki fenomen, ali ipak nije slicno, je imali su sate a ne minute ili sekunde pobjeci. No i ovdje ce nastati "misterij" o tome kako je toliko ljudi moglo izginuti. Zrtava je preko 100, nevjerojatno je da u modernom vremenu ljudi mogu poginuti od pozara za kojeg znaju dva sata unaprijed.

Ali brate, ako si u bungalovima u nekoj sumetini, i osjetis miris dima, kako mozes dva sata cekati? Valjda cekali vatrogasce da srede stvar. Ali svejedno ne ide u glavu. Miris dima, a ti U JEBENOJ SUMI... i da budes bezbrizan i uljuljkan u komfor hotelske usluge? Ne mogu vatrogasci gasiti sumu jebote. Bozemioprosti, ovo je prava prirodna selekcija s obzirom na odluke koje donosis u ovakvim situacijama. Definitivno su se spasili pametniji i oprezniji da ostave potomstvo i prenesu dalje gene. Bar pola izginulih su ludi turisti, kao oni bezbrizni Cesi u Hrvatskoj koji uvijek ginu svakog ljeta po kanjonima ili ih GSS besplatno spasava (vani bi im ispostavili racun za helikopter), nikad domaci ne stradaju.

Vatra se sirila ogromnom i iznenadjujucom brzinom, opkoljavajuci ljude. Podsjeca na onu tragediju na Kornatima, gdje se dogodio neki termodinamicki fenomen, ali ipak nije slicno, je imali su sate a ne minute ili sekunde pobjeci. No i ovdje ce nastati "misterij" o tome kako je toliko ljudi moglo izginuti. Zrtava je preko 100, nevjerojatno je da u modernom vremenu ljudi mogu poginuti od pozara za kojeg znaju dva sata unaprijed.

Ali brate, ako si u bungalovima u nekoj sumetini, i osjetis miris dima, kako mozes dva sata cekati? Valjda cekali vatrogasce da srede stvar. Ali svejedno ne ide u glavu. Miris dima, a ti U JEBENOJ SUMI... i da budes bezbrizan i uljuljkan u komfor hotelske usluge? Ne mogu vatrogasci gasiti sumu jebote. Bozemioprosti, ovo je prava prirodna selekcija s obzirom na odluke koje donosis u ovakvim situacijama. Definitivno su se spasili pametniji i oprezniji da ostave potomstvo i prenesu dalje gene. Bar pola izginulih su ludi turisti, kao oni bezbrizni Cesi u Hrvatskoj koji uvijek ginu svakog ljeta po kanjonima ili ih GSS besplatno spasava (vani bi im ispostavili racun za helikopter), nikad domaci ne stradaju.