Greece Eurogroup meeting: Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis lists four key principles for renegotiation

 

Today, Greece's finance minister met with leaders from the Eurozone's other member states to discuss a renegotiation of its bailout package. 

 

Yanis Varoufakis is part of the radical left party Syriza, which won a parliamentary vote on 25 January on the back of its promise to bring the country out of austerity. It said it would do this by changing its €240bn bailout agreement with the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank. 

 

But initial talks with Eurozone leaders did not prove successful – German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that if Greece was not willing  to request an extension of its 240 billion euro bailout, then “that's it”. He said debt write off or further assistance, such as a bridge loan, were not options. 

 

However, leaders were keen to hear Varoufakis's proposals, which led to today's eurogroup meeting taking place in Brussels. Varoufakis was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Yanis Dragasakis, rather than Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

 

According to Eurozone officials who spoke to Bloomberg, four key principals were at the heart of his proposition. These were that the deal should provide financial stability and financial sustainability to Greece, as well as restructuring its debt and addressing the humanitarian crisis unravelling in the country. 

 

Greece's bailout package will expire before the end of the month unless it can reach an agreement with its creditor nations in the meantime. However, Greece is adamant that it should remain in the single currency zone. The discussions in Brussels are due to continue on Monday, 16 February.