German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, just a few hours ahead of the Eurogroup meeting being currently held in Brussels in order to strike an agreement over the Greek program, expressed their firm belief that Greece is and must remain in the Eurozone, ruling out the possibility of a Grexit. In a joint press conference held between the two leaders in Paris, Merkel highlighted that the Greek loan agreement six-month extension request submitted yesterday by Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis requires further negotiation. “Considerable improvements are needed in the substance of what is being discussed, so that we might, for instance, be able to vote on it next week in the German Bundestag. I think an intensive phase of work has to start today,” the German Chancellor said. The newly elected SYRIZA-led Greek government is trying to balance between a much-needed agreement with its European loan partners, in an attempt to avoid a liquidity crunch at the end of the month (when the current deal is due to expire) and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ promises to put an end to the previous government’s austerity policies, imposed by the EC/ECB/IMF Troika. Although, any possible extension or changes require the approval of the Bundestag, Germany’s Parliament. Berlin’s initial objections, with the use of strong language, as it characterized the Greek proposal as a “Trojan horse,” were later softened after a telephone conversation between the Tsipras and Merkel. As Merkel underlined, Germany’s and Europe’s policy aims at keeping Greece in the single currency since it began receiving a 240-billion-euro bailout assistance five years ago. On his behalf, the French President said that “Greece is in the euro area and Greece must remain in the euro area,” backing previous comments made by the German Chancellor. “We will make every effort to continue on this path. This is about a program extension and what that will really mean. We need to be able to say to other people in other countries what that means,” Merkel concluded.
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