Tsipras and Merkel sound conciliatory tone after Berlin meeting
Greece took its negations for EU cash all the way to Berlin today, where Prime Minsiter Alexis Tsipras met the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
The meeting appeared to go well, with both sides appearing keen to find common ground and there did seem to be genuine warmth between the two leaders.
Looks like it was a good meeting. Conciliatory tone by Tsipras, very different that his statemnts in #Greece. #Merkel pic.twitter.com/isBF9dZs57
— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) March 23, 2015
Reforms for cash
Merkel made it clear that there would be no decision on the issue today, while Tsipras stressed the need for both countries to align on the issue, and to avoid creating new divisions in the single currency bloc.
Greece needs to come up with a catalogue of reforms, which then have to be ratified, before it can expect to receive the EU cash it needs to shore up its economy.
WWII reparations
The meeting also covered another issue with the potential to create discord: the matter of Greek demands for Second World War reparations.
The Greeks argue that Germany should pay them money for crimes committed during the German occupation of Greece. Tsipras said that Greece was not planning to freeze any German assets, while Merkel said that, although the issue was closed from a political point of view, she understood the difficult conditions at the time.
Liquidity
There has been some speculation about the short term liquidity of Greek Banks. Mario Draghi, the governor of the European Central Bank (ECB) said earlier that all of Greece’s banks have capital rations above the minimum required level.