Dijsselbloem and Varoufakis met in Brussels on Wednesday
Eurozone finance ministers have failed to agree with their new counterpart from Greece during their first meeting. According to diplomats, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis walked away from the deal at the last minute, after he had spoken to his government over the phone. Talks will continue during the next meeting of the Eurogroup on Monday (February 16).
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble had already left the meeting on Wednesday night (February 11), thinking that a common ground had been found.
But shortly afterwards his Greek colleague stepped away from the scheduled conclusion after a phone call with Athens.
Varoufakis tried to give an optimistic message after his first participation at an Eurogroup meeting. “It was fascinating,” he told journalists, explaining that he heard “very different views” and that the “attitude around the table was very positive.”
“This Eurogroup was never meant to settle any issues,” Varoufakis said. “I was invited because I am the new kid on the block, so to speak. I was given a wonderful opportunity and a very warm welcome to present our views, our analysis, our proposals, both regarding substance and regarding the road map. And since we are meeting again on Monday, I think it is perfectly normal and natural that we should simply move to the Monday meeting.”
Talks in this “useful meeting” were “intense” and “constructive,” explained Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem, in a short press conference held late at night after discussions had concluded.
“We understand better where we are,” said Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, “but simply not enough to come to joined conclusions.”
After six hours of talks, Dijsselbloem admitted that the ministers had not even been able to tackle the next steps to take negotiations forward.
“We covered a lot of ground, but didn’t actually reach a joint conclusion how to take the next steps. Monday is very soon. So we will continue our work straight away on Monday, but there has to be a political agreement on the way forward,” he said.
The ministers had discussed about the “possibility of an extension of the programme,” which apparently was “the preferred option for some,” Dijsselbloem stated.
Varoufakis, however, told journalists that “Greece would never agree to stay in this programme,” which he considers “catastrophic.” Instead, he hopes that a new contract between Greece and the EU can be established.
“This experiment has failed,” Varoufakis added. “Our proposal is very simple: no unilateral moves, no aggressive moves. We are simply asking for some time to table our proposal.”
- Author: Danièle Weber, Euranet Plus News Agency
Suggested Euranet Plus stories
![Greece steps back on debt write-off]( "Greece steps back on debt write-off")
Greece steps back on debt write-off | February 3, 2015 | Euranet Plus News Agency | English
The new Greek government seems to back down from its aim of cancelling debt, after Yanis Varoufakis, the new Greek finance minister, revealed his new plan of swapping the 315 billion euros of public debt for growth-linked bonds. But in Berlin, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble stressed that there won’t be any changes to Greece’s debt programme.
![Greece on tour to re-negotiate bailout]( "Greece on tour to re-negotiate bailout")
Greece on tour to re-negotiate bailout | February 2, 2015 | Euranet Plus News Agency | English
Alarm bells rang in Brussels during the weekend as Greece’s new left-wing government said it will not take any new loans nor work with the Troika. However, Greek government leaders, who are on tour to re-negotiate the country’s bailout terms, got support from Paris and also from the US President, Barack Obama.
![Eurogroup extends Greece’s last bailout tranche]( "Eurogroup extends Greece’s last bailout tranche")
Eurogroup extends Greece’s last bailout tranche | December 9, 2014 | Euranet Plus News Agency | English
As euro-area finance ministers met in Brussels on Monday (08.12.2014) to discuss the future of Greece’s international bailout, the Greek government announced an early presidential vote with the vow to exit the unpopular austerity program as soon as possible. Following Monday’s meeting, members of the Eurogroup provisionally agreed to Greece’s request for a technical extension of the current European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) by two months, rather than the six months eurozone officials had been planning.
