Alexis Tsipras is dangerously isolated in Europe, but that’s bad for Europe tooNegotiating with Greece’s lenders was bound to be a struggle for Alexis Tsipras’s government. The radical left prime minister hoped not only to pull Greece out of austerity programmes that have caused so much social suffering but also to put the whole of Europe on to a new economic course. That was always an ambitious project, and now it’s unravelling fast. The inexperience of Greece’s new leadership has certainly played a role. But the odds were difficult from the start: Greece’s European partners have been adamant, over the past two months, that there was no way that the current bailout programme, negotiated back in 2012, could be amended – at least not without clear proof that structural reforms would be forthcoming. When Greece obtained a reprieve on 20 Febuary the conditions attached were very clear: any extra spending on pensions or salaries would have to be met with equivalent cuts. Put bluntly, there was going to be no free lunch for Greece, whatever its woes, and Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, who carries much weight on such issues, has made sure fiscal orthodoxy would prevail. This is the difficult equation Mr Tsipras continued to confront on Monday as officials from the eurozone pored over the measures put forward by his government late last week.Mr Tsipras must show he has the credentials to be a realistic partner Continue reading...
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