The Greek government appeared to lower expectations for a crucial Eurogroup meeting on Thursday and prospects for a breakthrough in achieving debt relief, with an unnamed source quoted as saying “we’re very far from a solution.”
The statement was circulated by Greece’s state-run news agency at around midday on Wednesday via the preferred “non-paper” route, whereby attribution is avoided. At the same time, the comments continued an on-again, off-again series of press leaks and unnamed position statements between Athens and Berlin this month over the Greek bailout program and the politically charged debt relief issue.
“We’re very far from a solution at tomorrow’s Eurogroup, given that Germany has not taken a step further in progress. If there’s no positive move in the next few hours or during the Eurogroup by the German finance minister, then this ‘hot potato’ will have to be handed to Ms. Merkel,” was the statement by the source, described as being "close to (ongoing) negotiations."
The same report claimed that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has already informed EU Council President Donald Tusk that in case of a failure at the Eurogroup, the Greek side will submit a written request for a Euro Summit on the sidelines of the regularly scheduled EU Summit on June 20.
