By T. Tsiros
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A more conciliatory tone was detected on Wednesday on the part of the government side during successive meetings with visiting EU Commissioner for economic affairs Pierre Moscovici in Athens, a previously scheduled visit that nevertheless coincided with the height of activity to overcome the latest impasse in the Greek bailout program.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, for instance, again promised no additional austerity measures, as demanded by creditors, but did express support for "reforms".
Moscovici, following communication with Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, again referred to a "window of opportunity" for an agreement, at least in principle, between the Greek government and creditors by Monday, when a Eurogroup convenes in Brussels. At the same time, IMF Europe director Poul Thomsen left open the possibility of the Fund revising its forecasts for the course of the Greek government, once the final results of a primary budget surplus accumulated in 2016 are disclosed.
Government sources who spoke to "N" maintained on Wednesday that there is still time for "significant progress" until Monday.
Meanwhile, an article by Süddeutsche Zeitung the same day reports that Berlin may be considering a change in opinion over the Greek bailout and the IMF's participation.
SZ features quotes by CSU vice-president and MEP Manfred Weber, who said "Europe can stand on its own two feet," in relation to the Greek bailout.
Weber said that both Europe and German should stop insisting on the IMF's participation in the Greek program.
