Greece may seek finance from non-EU partners: Minister
Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos says his cash-strapped country could seek assistance from other parties if the European Union (EU) “remains rigid” and fails to show flexibility in reaching a new debt agreement with Athens.
“What we want is a deal. But if there is no deal - hopefully (there will be) - and if we see that Germany remains rigid and wants to blow apart Europe, then we have the obligation to go to Plan B. Plan B is to get funding from another source,” Panos Kammenos told Greek television on an overnight show that ran into early Tuesday.
Kammenos added that his country could turn to the United State, Russia, China or other states for assistance should Europeans let Athens down.
Greece’s new anti-austerity government wants part of the national debt written off, but Germany, the EU heavyweight, strongly opposes the demand.
The incumbent Greek authorities also disagree with some policies being pursued by Brussels, most notably the anti-Russian sanctions over the Ukrainian crisis.
Moscow has indicated that it may offer a loan to Greece after the populist Syriza party won a general election in January and its leader, Alexis Tsipras, took over as prime minister from Antonis Samaras.
Athens seeks to clinch a final austerity-free deal with its international lenders to resolve the Greek debt crisis.
This is while European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said that the Greek government should not assume that the eurozone would simply accept Tsipras’s demands for a huge reduction in Greece’s debt.
Syriza says the bailout conditions imposed by the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have impoverished Greece and fueled unemployment.
Greece nearly went bankrupt in 2010. It survived, however, on international rescue packages. Athens has received 240 billion euros (USD 330 billion) in international loans in return for the enforcement of austerity measures.
MP/MKA/SS
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