Athens’ push for debt relief within the year got the “cold shoulder” on Thursday by European leaders on two separate occasions, with European Parliament President Martin Schulz and European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi more-or-less stating their respective institutions won’t lead any “charge” in favor of the leftist Greek government’s increasingly pressing demand.
In Frankfurt, following an ECB governing council meeting, Draghi merely noted that “discussions on the sustainability of the Greek debt continued … We expressed concern, and steps should be taken.”
He added that the eurozone’s central bank will conduct its own assessment on the sustainability of Greece’s debt.
“When the time comes we will examine independently the issue of the debt sustainability,” he emphasized, before further dousing heightened hopes in the leftist Greek government for inclusion in its quantitative easing (QE) scheme, long coveted as a way to boost liquidity in the country.
From Brussels, where Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrived the same day for 48-hours of contacts, meetings and addresses before top European leaders, Schulz later stated that the Euro-Parliament will not assume an initiative over the Greek debt issue.
Reports after the Tsipras-Schulz meeting apparently showed the latter as bothered by leaks from the meeting, ostensibly disseminated by the Greek side.
Schulz said he was surprised by speculation that the European Parliament will assume such action.
The German lawmaker said the root of the speculation possibly lies in an upcoming session at the EP’s economic and monetary affairs committee, which will include the Greek debt issue on the agenda, however, he said this does not imply an “initiative”.
Earlier, a government source expressed “satisfaction” over Schulz’s “positive” stance, repeating the Tsipras government’s leitmotif of “agreements must be fulfilled” – a reference to a May Eurogroup meeting decision to seek Greek debt relief measures in the future.
The same unnamed source said “Schulz wants to help Greece towards this goal, both on the EP level and with the political influence he has in his country”.
Tsipras is scheduled to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday morning, while one-on-one contacts on the sidelines of the summit with French President Francois Hollande and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
