The Troika or “institutions,” as they are now called, were able to hammer out the agreement after resolving differences within the group late on Tuesday. It will be presented to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday. This may be a “take-it-or-leave it” set of proposals. If Greece accepts the proposals this would unlock the final 7.2 bilion euros of the original bailout loan that terminates at the end of this month. A senior EU official said: “It covers all key policy areas and reflects the discussions of recent weeks. It will be discussed with Tsipras tomorrow.”
The president of the European Union Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has asked Prime Minister Tsipras to fly to Brussels tomorrow.
Tsipras said that he had presented Greece’s own “realistic proposal” for a deal to end the crisis. He said that the deal included “concessions that will be difficult.” It remains to be seen if Tsipras will accept the plan presented by Juncker. He may insist that there be negotiations on his own proposals. Tsipras said that it was up to the institutions whether they decided “to adjust to realism”:
“We have submitted a realistic plan for Greece to exit the crisis. A realistic plan, whose acceptance by the institutions, our lenders and our partners in Europe will mark the end of the scenario of divisions in Europe.”
The Greek proposal is 47 pages long. Sources suggest that key figures such as Merkel, Juncker, Mario Draghi head of the ECB, and Christine Lagarde IMF chief had seen the Greek proposals before their meeting to draft their own proposals.
Greece has a loan payment of 300 million euros due to the IMF this Friday June 5th and a total of 1.6 billion due this month alone, with large payments also due in July and August. The Greek government claims it has the internal resources to make the Friday payment. The Syriza government is facing increasing pressure from within the party to refuse further concessions and prepare a Plan B that would set out policies to be pursued if there is no deal. Labour minister Panos Skourletis said on TV that a referendum might be required to approve the deal: “If a deal is achieved that is not deemed honourable and promoting of compromise, the people will have to be asked before we sign it. When you are elected you are not given carte blanche.”
