BERLIN (MNI) – Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Tuesday
reaffirmed that his country is determined to meet the consolidation and
reform goals set under an EU-IMF aid deal signed in May 2010.
Speaking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel in Berlin, Papandreou stressed the “strong will of Greece to
implement the measures in any event.”
Merkel said any decision of her government regarding further aid
for Greece will depend on the judgement of the troika of the IMF, the EU
Commission and the ECB. “They are the yardstick for our actions,” she
stressed.
Papandreou said the goals set by the troika for Greece have not
been changed but the conditions under which these goals must be achieved
have deteriorated. “The recession was very much worse” than anticipated,
he said.
Merkel reaffirmed her expectation that she will be able to win a
majority of her own government coalition’s members of parliament, and
not depend on the opposition, in Thursday’s crucial vote on giving new
authority to Europe’s bailout fund, the European Financal Stability
Facility.
Most opposition parties have already announced that they will vote
for the government bill, so passage is assured even if Merkel does not
carry a majority of MPs from her own coalition parties.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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