International

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, in remarks following the Eurogroup decision, expressed the conviction that the debt relief measures will ensure Greece’s return to the markets.

ECB chief Mario Draghi said that the viability of the Greek debt has improved in the medium term after yesterday’s Eurogroup decisions, and that the completion of all prior actions presages a successful bailout exit in August.

The deal includes a 24.1bn euro fiscal cushion, a 10-year extension (now through 2032) of the grace period on EFSF loans, and a 10-year extension of the average maturity of Greek bonds by 10 years.

We are constantly being slapped with fines by the European Union because we maintain unacceptable landfills, without fundamental environmental protection measures, but no one cares.

Kammenos is not only keeping his parliamentary seat, but he also intends to keep his post as Parliament Vice President, which he received as the representative of the Independent Greeks.

The Independent Greeks party is in disharmony with its electoral base, but SYRIZA MPs representing districts in northern Greece are also being severely pressure by their electorate.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) programme is on track, opening the way for disbursement of the last tranche of funding, which is needed for debt servicing, while part of the sum will be used to bolster Greece’s fiscal cushion.

It is positive that Greece is exiting the memorandum, but what is in store is a hefty package of fiscal measures that will have grave repercussions on broad swathes of the public.

Kammenos lashed out at New Democracy, charging that the main opposition party collaborates with the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn and the neo-fascists.

As predicted, a drawing out of the crisis will permit the electoral rise of the extreme right, as happened with the Left during the “anti-memorandum struggle”.

Today, the agreement signed just three days ago at Prespes, on an issue that has bedeviled the country for nearly three decades, appears to be redrawing the political map and is creating deep fissures in some parties.

Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov, who presented the agreement to the committee, described the signing of the accord as an “act of duty and patriotism”, asserting that these are “historic days” for the country.

The measures that will determine the viability of the debt will be of particular importance, both in terms of domestic economic developments and as regards how the markets will perceive them.

The Greek Parliament passed legislation whereby the two officers are being given a military transfer to Turkey, so that they could have a permanent residence there.

The battle royal between the government and the main opposition party flared up after a report in the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which said that Mitsotakis committed himself, in speaking to foreign interlocutors, that as prime minister he will vote for the agreement with Skopje.

The report says that an extension of the loan repayment periods is in the works, and that Berlin is prepared to make concession and is veering towards an eight-year extension.

Just a few months ago, a governmental crisis in Germany was inconceivable. Yet, the most stable – and most developed – country in Europe today faces the prospect of a collapse of the ruling coalition.

The 21 June Eurogroup is poised to decide on the post-bailout supervision framework, the amount of the last loan tranche, and possible debt relief measures, according to the agenda drafted by Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno.

The European Commission, for political reasons, and in order to create a suitable climate, ahead of the May, 2019, European Parliament elections, is eager to strike a compromise between Germany, France, and the Greek government.

The MP, who has been expelled from Golden Dawn’s parliamentary group, in parliament called upon the military to arrest the President, the PM and the Defence Minister.