French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and French Finance Minister Michel Sapin arrived in Athens on Friday amid the ongoing and resumed negotiations in the Greek capital between the leftist government and institutional creditors.
While the Tsipras government has portrayed the visit as a "vote of confidence" in its bid to conclude the second review of the Greek program (third bailout), which is now utterly delayed and a source of economic uncertainty, the arrival of French leaders nevertheless comes as France has entered an election campaign season, and with French President Francois Hollande leading a "lame duck" administration.
Beyond the delayed second review and even lingering disagreements over creditors' demands for additional austerity measures after 2018, in order to ensure that fiscal targets are met, the French prime minister is expected to discuss the migration/refugee crisis that continues to plague Greece and Italy, primarily. As a result, minister of state for European affairs Harlem Désir is also accompanying Cazeneuve.
The French delegation is scheduled to meet with Greek leadership, including PM Alexis Tsipras.
