German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted to the savings decisions of the Greek Parliament to tackle the debt crisis eases. These decisions show to take the will and the willingness of the Greeks, their own efforts, to make hard cuts, to lead their country on a good path, said their spokesman Steffen Seibert.
Merkel, a bankruptcy, and a withdrawal of Greece from the euro-zone were on a non-issue. We want to help Greece within the euro zone, said Seibert. The Chancellor will participate in any attempt to push out Greece from the euro-zone. And this is true, he added.
The Parliament in Athens had accepted the drastic cuts during the night of Monday with the votes of 199 of a total of 300 members. The program is the prerequisite for further assistance of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Without whose credits, the euro State would be insolvent within a few weeks.
These measures are not saving to of saving sake, but it was about reforms in all political fora, said Seibert. The rigid structures of the Greek economy and the labour market should be changed so that productive forces could be released. Step by step, which should recover the financial room for manoeuvre to jobs and economic growth create.
We will be slaves of the Germans.
Many citizens in Greece see it differently. You can feel the measures as libellous dictation of the German Government. On the edge of the protests in Athens, the engineer of Andreas Margoudakis gave the mood reflected. It is not easy to live under such conditions. By 2020 we slaves of the Germans will be, said Margoudakis.
On the façade of the Greek Central Bank someone had written a few days ago Bank of Berlin, while several German flags were burned at a general strike last week. Us blackmail the international community, said the wakes of Anastasia Papadaki. The problem is that the measures do not resolve the crisis, because it does not return the growth start up.
.The Commission, however, welcomed the decision of the Greek Parliament. The result is expression of the will to improve the financial situation and the country's competitiveness, said EU monetary Commissioner Olli Rehn. At the same time, he condemned the acts of violence in the protests against the austerity package, where on Sunday dozens of houses were destroyed in Athens.
Athens Government is planning new elections in April.
The Greek provisional Government assumes that as planned early elections can take place in April. The Government will have done their work until the end of March, said Government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis. The next three weeks will be bedazzled, he said at the same time with a view to more votes in the Parliament on the implementation of the austerity package.
After the resignation of several Ministers in the past week and breaking out of the right-wing party of Laos from the three party Government of Minister-President Lucas Papademos, Kapsis ruled out a major cabinet reshuffle. Such a move would be at most low degree. Athens media had speculated last week about a possible reshuffle - until the formation of a Government of experts similar to the in Italy.
Parallel to the austerity vote by Greece agreed with its private creditors apparently on their contribution to the rescue of the country. The agreement should be announced after the meeting of the Eurogroup on Wednesday, several people familiar with the negotiations said. This is under the assumption that there are no unexpected setbacks. In the context of debt relief, the creditors do without probably to about 70 percent of their claims.
