Greek crisis moves to Riga, for a crunch eurogroup meeting to discuss the country’s bailout programme.Latest: Frustrated ministers ‘hammer’ VaroufakisPhotos: meeting underwayIntroduction: Greek debt drama shifts to LatviaSchäuble: don’t expect decisive progressDijsselbloem: Great urgency for a deal 11.13am BST Heads-up: The eurogroup press conference is starting now.On the stage, we have eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, ECB president Mario Draghi, and also Klaus Regling, who runs the European Stability Mechanism (the eurozone’s bailout fund).#Eurogroup press conference live stream also available here: http://t.co/jnJD3V5HiM. #Greece 11.10am BST Malta’s finance minister, Edward Scicluna, has reportedly told journalists in Riga that there was a “complete breakdown” in communication between the two sides today:*SCICLUNA ON GREECE TALKS: `COMPLETE BREAKDOWN IN COMMUNICATION' 11.04am BST Pierre Moscovici is also tweeting, suggesting that the meeting has ended#Greece, #BankingUnion, #Spain, #G7, growth and jobs discussed at the #Eurogroup in Riga today @EU_Commission 11.03am BST Now hearing that the eurogroup meeting has ended (for the second time), so the press conference may start soon. 11.02am BST It’s official. European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis tweets that Greece has been told to ‘urgently’ speed up negotiations.Concerns in #eurogroup #Riga about limited progress in talks with #Greece. Urgent need to speed up negotiations. 11.00am BST Jeeze. Bloomberg are reporting that Yanis Varoufakis was accused of being “a time-waster, a gambler and an amateur” in Riga this morning, as the eurozone’s patience ran out.Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis was heavily criticized by his euro-area colleagues amid mounting frustration at his refusal to deliver measures to fix his country’s economy and release financial aid, according to three people familiar with the talks.Euro-area finance chiefs said Varoufakis’s handling of the talks was irresponsible and accused him of being a time-waster, a gambler and an amateur, one of the people said. Ministers are meeting in Riga, Latvia, to assess progress in negotiations over financial aid for Greece. 10.57am BST Hello..... sounds like the eurogroup meeting has burst back into life....Presser already 30mins late and it appears #Greece discussion has restarted 10.50am BST We usually have to read between the lines of these EU briefings -- but ‘hammering’ doesn’t require much interpretation.*VAROUFAKIS SAID TO TAKE HAMMERING FROM FRUSTRATED EU MINISTERS. Editors note: "hammering" is diplomspeak for something much worse. 10.48am BST #Greece's default probability jumps as Greek FinMin Varoufakis said to take hammering from frustrated EU ministers. pic.twitter.com/lr6D4UalOk 10.47am BST I'd put my money on Yanis 10.46am BST Could someone in Riga please pass Yanis Varoufakis a sponge and a towel? Sounds like he’s had a bad morning.Varoufakis Said To Take Hammering From Frustrated EU Ministers 10.39am BST Journalists are gathering in the press conference room in Riga...Quite impressive venue for the press conference @ #Eurogroup in Riga #Greece pic.twitter.com/D1WZgUpSDX 10.37am BST The FT’s Peter Spiegel has heard that the meeting in Riga was “pretty heated”:Source says #Greece debate in #eurogroup room was pretty heated. Talks continuing outside, too. Presser may be delayed a bit 10.36am BST Over in Athens prime minister Alexis Tsipras’ leftist-led government is now saying that it will enforce reforms just as soon as the country’s credit crunch is solved“We are not studying scenarios of holding a referendum or elections. We have no reason to put them on the table. With our policies we are enforcing our popular mandate against austerity.” 10.32am BST EU officials are giving Greece a tough time in Riga today, according to Eleni Varvitsiotis of the Kathimerini newspaper:Extremely unfriendly the environment towards #Greece inside #eurogroup main message "get your act together" says EU official. 10.23am BST A reminder of how the day began (for anyone just joining us)Dijsselbloem: "They know that time is running out" #Greece pic.twitter.com/Tm7KkzBoxx 10.22am BST Benedict James, a lawyer at Linklaters, just emailed over his views on the Greece crisis, and the possibility of a default.Worth a read, as we wait for finance ministers to emerge from their talks in Riga:“There is a lot of loose talk, but there is no legal mechanism to force Greece to exit the euro, whether or not it defaults on its sovereign debt. Also, Greece doesn’t seem to want to exit voluntarily so it’s more likely that, at least for the time being, the government will simply run progressively out of euros.This is likely to lead to the imposition of capital controls and issuance of government IOUs as a sort of quasi-currency (as happened in Argentina and California). That may be a precursor to a full exit of the euro. The legality of capital controls is complicated under the EU treaties and the IMF framework, the imposition of a quasi-currency may be in breach of the eurozone rules, and departure from the eurozone would definitely be a breach of them. This would all therefore be a highly complex legal situation, both for the relevant countries, and for businesses and financiers trying to work out whether their contracts are enforceable, and if so in what currency.” 10.13am BST Although the euro has rallied this morning, City traders aren’t expecting a major breakthrough today.Arnaud Masset, market analyst at Swissquote, says:Today we do not expect much from this Euro Finance Ministers meeting in Riga as several of them already lowered their expectations, the next key date for Greece being the payment of €200m to the IMF on May 1, while on May 6 Greece has to find €1.4bn at its 26-week Bill [see our chart for details]. 9.58am BST Eurozone finance chiefs looked pretty serious as talks began this morning in Riga: 9.50am BST Back in Athens, Greek bank shares are now up almost 9% -- despite the cautious words from eurozone finance ministers this morning.Greek penny stocks (banks) didn't get the Schaeuble memo +8.8% pic.twitter.com/m1FDXtmCEP 9.40am BST Confused about how much money Greece can lay its hands on, and what debt repayments it faces?Worry not - my colleague Katie Allen has written the definitive explanation: Related: Greek debts: what does it owe? When will the money run out? 9.32am BST We’re expecting eurozone finance ministers to emerge in about one hour’s time for a press conference - it should be broadcast live here. 9.14am BST Greek government bonds are inching up this morning, pushing down the yield on the debt.That suggests investors are slightly more confident of a deal soon. But bonds are still trading at dangerously levels. 9.10am BST Over in Riga, the press pack are hard at work too .Στο #Eurogroup press room περιμένοντας για τα αποτελέσματα pic.twitter.com/7WVCtOLYWg 9.07am BST Open Europe analyst Vince Scarpetta sums up this morning’s soundbytes:Doorsteps of Dijsselbloem, Dombrovskis and Schäuble confirmed what we already knew: There will be no deal at today's Eurogroup. #Greece 9.00am BST If you’re just joining us, you might want to scroll back to 7am for live coverage of finance ministers arriving in Riga for today’s meeting, and discussing the Greek crisis. 8.53am BST With Eurozone finance ministers now locked in talks, here are some photos from the start of the meeting:Before a while... #Eurogroup chief @J_Dijsselbloem together w the Greek pm @yanisvaroufakis... In a good mood??? pic.twitter.com/qtLRbi9zSK 8.46am BST There’s a new sense of optimism in Athens this morning that Greece and its creditors will hammer out a deal in time.The Athens stock market has jumped by over 3% in early trading, with bank shares up 8%. 8.28am BST Apologies to anyone eating breakfast:The Economist cartoon on Tsipras' poker game - PHOTO - http://t.co/2r96y69rd0 pic.twitter.com/bjA3ae5bEV 8.24am BST First we had #Grexit, then #Graccident, then yesterday Citi coughed up #Grimbo.Now The Economist has got in on the act, warning that Athens is on the Gredge.There are ways for Greece to defer disaster. It could save hard currency by issuing scrip, a type of IOU, in lieu of payments to its citizens. But that would be an open invitation to Greeks to take their remaining euros out of the banks. So the government could impose capital controls. Cyprus has had these for two years without leaving the euro, but that was done in concert with its partners. If Greece ever got to this stage—a parallel currency in circulation, capital controls in place and bail-out cash withheld—the gap between default and exit would be paper-thin. 8.13am BST The euro has hit a two-week high this morning, partly driven by hopes that the Greek crisis can be resolved in time. 8.04am BST James Bevan, chief investment officer at CCLA, reckons the two sides won’t reach any final agreement until June (when Greece’s existing bailout expires):Greece's short of cash but default can be avoided if Eurozone policy makers want. Cd see a tentative deal by June. 20th July still key. 7.58am BST Overnight, Yanis Varoufakis has announced that Greece will compromise on some key issues in order to reach a deal.In a new blogpost, Greece’s finance chief says that the gap between the two sides is “not unbridgeable”, and cites pension reforms and privatisations: Our government is eager to rationalize the pension system (for example, by limiting early retirement), proceed with partial privatization of public assets, address the non-performing loans that are clogging the economy’s credit circuits, create a fully independent tax commission, and boost entrepreneurship. Such measures will merely cause further damage to Greece’s already-stressed social fabric, rendering it incapable of providing the support that our reform agenda desperately needs.A New Deal for Greece – a Project Syndicate Op-Ed http://t.co/iALKa3MMkk 7.36am BST Although this is a eurozone-only meeting, the UK has a presence at the table - Jonathan Hill, European Commissioner for Financial Services.Surely the addition of some UK nous will help them reach a deal?Scandalous. RT "@SpiegelPeter: A Brit in the #eurogroup room! Alert security! cc: @JHillEU pic.twitter.com/BrrRHl3Siw” 7.29am BST Here’s a video feed from outside, and inside the eurogroup meeting, showing ministers arriving and taking their seats (you’ll need scroll backwards a few minutes) 7.25am BST There’s no lack of urgency among the Greek delegation this morning.Yanis Varoufakis has taken his seat around the table and looking ready for business.As other FinMins chat, @yanisvaroufakis & Theocarakis wait #eurogroup start. I leave body language analysis to others pic.twitter.com/ZmMjo8oGhf 7.22am BST European commissioner Pierre Moscovici has arrived, and tells the press pack that progress with Greece are still “too slow”, although talks are also more consistent.And Austria’s finance minister Hans Joerg Schelling is also cautiopus, saying he can’t confirm whether the two side have made “essential progress” yet. 7.19am BST Here’s a video clip of Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem speaking as he arrived at the Eurogroup meeting a few minutes ago.#Eurogroup meeting - Arrival and doorstep Eurogroup President @J_Dijsselbloem http://t.co/t83MI2f1M9 pic.twitter.com/q7HBDc6g5bWe will hear from our Greek colleague on the progress made. I hope there is a lot of progress to be reported, and then we’ll talk to you later. 7.14am BST Now Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, arrives at the eurogroup meeting.Schäuble says he doesn’t believe there will be “decisive progress” today, but first he wants to hear the state of play from the institutions (formally known at the Troika).Schäuble says he waits to see the 'Institutions' report, says it's obvious there is not enough progress on #Greece. #Eurogroup 7.10am BST Slovakia’s finance minister, Peter Kazimir, may be losing patience with Greece.He tells reporters in Riga that there is no more time for “chit chat”; but also suggests the crisis could drag on until the end of June. 7.07am BST Disappointing! Yanis Varoufakis swept into the eurogroup meeting without speaking to the press.Greek finmin @yanisvaroufakis just arrived. No doorstep. #Eurogroup #Greece 7.06am BST #Eurogroup chief @J_Dijsselbloem said deadline more important for #Greece. They know time is running out. pic.twitter.com/BezJDKCy7u 7.06am BST Here comes the head of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem.Dijsselbloem tells reporters in Riga that there is a “great urgency” to reach a deal with Greece."April isn't over yet," @J_Dijsselbloem chuckles when asked why #Greece won't get agreement on reforms before deadline at end of month 7.01am BST #Greece has to accelerate on the reform list.Technical talks not sufficient so far says @VDombrovskis #Eurogroup pic.twitter.com/Acxu0XiK6z 7.00am BST European vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis has just arrived in Riga, and told reporters outside the Eurogroup that Greece must accelerate the work on its reform programme.Without a credible list, there is no chance of a deal today in Riga, Dombrovskis says.#EU’s Dombrovskis says not enough progress on #Greece talks; Greece must accelerate work on reforms; technical work not done, no Riga deal 6.58am BST Everyone involved in the Greek negotiations must do everything they can to an “accident”, France’s finance minister has warned.Michel Sapin told Reuters a few minutes ago that:“Every day that passes (without a deal) makes things more complicated....We must avoid an accident.” 6.56am BST And we’re off....Latvian breakfast of champions. Finance ministers starting to arrive for #eurogroup. @eu2015lv #Riga pic.twitter.com/ceGRqqUFqJ 6.52am BST Good morning.Greece’s debt drama switches to Riga today. Eurozone finance ministers are gathering in the Latvian capital to discuss the crisis that is gripping Europe and worrying the financial markets again.WHY DOES TODAY MATTER? BEGINNING OF THE LAST CHANCE SALOON:The new left-wing Greek government was supposed to present detailed reform plans today to eurozone and wider-EU finance ministers. This would have allowed lenders to unlock the next round of funds Greece needs to pay everything from creditors to pensions. No deal will happen today in Latvia, but all are desperate for signs of progress.Merkel: Must prevent Greece running out of cash - http://t.co/CZhILG6Pm8 pic.twitter.com/OrpsgrIG54 Related: Tsipras and Merkel make some progress over Greek bailout - live updates Continue reading...
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