The Greek economy, European policy issues as well as current foreign policy initiatives are expected topics of conversation during a working lunch between Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday in Berlin. The meeting was arranged by the two leaders on the sidelines of the EU Summit on July 16. Samaras hopes to secure Merkel’s support for several Greek demands ahead of the troika’s return to Athens later this month. A German government spokesperson recently suggested that the two leaders will not come to any agreements in Berlin. Their discussion will help clarify the stance each holds in the upcoming troika evaluation, however. Samaras and Merkel are expected to discuss the progress of Greece’s economic reforms. According to sources, the Greek government would ideally reach an agreement with the troika by early December. The government might then find itself in a favorable position to tackle its key political challenge – garnering the 180 votes in the 300-seat Parliament required for electing the President of the Republic. Athens has proved reluctant to push forward with the troika’s demands for a second phase of reform of the pension system and additional, strenuous changes to the Greek labor market. Samaras is also keen to secure the foreign envoys’ approval for a series of tax breaks that he heralded at the Thessaloniki International Fair earlier this month. The two sides have fundamentally different views on the matter of fiscal and funding gaps. Government officials have reiterated recently that Greece will not require a third foreign loan program, with Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis stating that Greece is in a single-handed position to raise some 12 billion euros in outstanding loans from the International Monetary Fund by tapping international markets. The Fund, which wants to leave Greece, appears to support this position. The official European position on the matter remains undetermined. Regarding Antonis Samaras’s forthcoming meeting with Angela Merkel, SYRIZA, the main opposition Radical Left Coalition, issued a critical statement on Sunday: “Mr Samaras is heading to Mrs Merkel as a supplicant, looking forward to her clemency. (Being) isolated politically, he resorts to his ultimate prop, having first made clear through the Finance Minister that the remission of Greek debt is not a choice, while the abatement of fiscal policy would constitute a sin”. SYRIZA added that, “The only bargaining chip Mr Samaras has as regards to Mrs Merkel, is the prospect of a SYRIZA government. Everything shows that the Samaras government cannot defend the interests of the country, that it cannot and does not want to negotiate and that it has completed its life cycle”. In reaction to SYRIZA’s statement, the government spokeswoman Sofia Voultepsi issued the following statement on Sunday evening: “We already knew it, that they want Greece to fail. The fact that they utter it openly, is something they should be ashamed of. SYRIZA, staunch to its undermining tactics against every effort the country makes, continues to expose itself to the eyes of the Greek people.” Greece will not need a third loan because the Greek debt is viable, Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis told the Vima newspaper on Sunday. “The cycle of memorandums is reaching its end,” he noted. “Few things remain outstanding. I assure you that Greece is able to support itself through its financing program. In addition, markets have shown in the last few months, and under very difficult circumstances, that they now trust the Greek economy. Rating agencies are constantly upgrading us and interest rates in the free market are being reduced. We will not need a third loan support package; the Greek debt is viable.” A further extension of the loan “is possible, financially and politically, as is a conversion of part of the loan with a variable interest rate to loans with a fixed interest rate,” he added.
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