German media appear optimistic, yet cautious regarding the possibility of reaching an agreement between Athens and Brussels until the critical Eurogroup meeting on Monday, February 16. Meanwhile, other international media point out that after yesterday’s summit Greece and Germany may be on the road to compromise. The German newspaper Die Zeit caustically criticized the summit developments referring to the “pre-election promises curse” which is holding Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hostage and has seriously limited the negotiating margins. Furthermore, Bild noted that the negotiations with Greece on February 12 marked the most important day in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s career. The Wall Street Journal wrote that “leaders from Greece and the rest of the eurozone struck a conciliatory tone Thursday, a day after the country’s new government dashed hopes of a quick resolution to the standoff between Athens and its creditors.” Reuters noted that time is counting down for the EU rescue program and mainly focuses on the fact that Eurozone’s Finance Ministers failed to bridge their differences. However, in an article entitled “Greece will do ‘whatever it can’ to reach a deal with EU,” Reuters states that on Monday, the country is going to make efforts to reach an agreement with its EU partners in order to transition to a new support program. Bloomberg notes that both Greece and Germany are “working toward a compromise,” while according to two Berlin officials that spoke with the news agency, Germany may not insist on all the existing program regulations. “As long as the program is prolonged, they said, Germany would be open to talking about the size of Greece’s budget surplus requirement and conditions to sell off government assets.” As for Greece, the country is preparing to commit to a primary budget surplus — not less than 4% of GDP. “Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s coalition also might be willing to compromise on privatizations,” noted Bloomberg. In an article entitled “Greece bailout talks: Compromise possible, says Merkel,” BBC to Angela Merkels’ willingness to reach a compromise with the Greek government. According to the British newspaper, outside the summit, Merkel stated that “compromises are made when the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and Germany is prepared to compromise. However, we also have to make clear that Europe’s credibility depends on us sticking to rules.”
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