Today will be a crucial day for Greece: will an agreement be reached between the debtor and the creditors? The possibility of Greece exiting the eurozone, although such a process would be unprecedented, is now being openly discussed.
A key meeting awaits Alexis Tsipras before the summit scheduled for early evening: a gathering has been convened by Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, with Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF, Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, President of the Eurogroup (Finance Minister of the eurozone).
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is in continuous contact with European leaders and Greece’s creditors to defend Athens’ new proposals submitted this weekend.
Without a decision on the disbursement of a 7.2 billion euro loan tranche, cash-strapped Athens risks being unable to meet a 1.5 billion euro repayment to the IMF on June 30, a scenario with unpredictable consequences.
While the content of Greece’s new proposals has not been officially disclosed, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi remarked on Sunday that “all the conditions” were in place for an agreement.
Athens seeks an agreement that provides a “definitive solution” rather than a temporary one with partial disbursement of funds to get past the June 30 deadline, and an extension of the aid plan, which would be followed by other tedious negotiations.
Protests against austerity and in support of Greece took place in several European cities over the weekend.
