Germany on Thursday dismissed Greece’s request for bridge funding that would give the country three months to negotiate new bailout terms, insisting that the newly-elected government must meet the requirements tied to its agreed program. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble maintained Berlin’s hard stance during his first meeting with Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis on Thursday. This is a setback for the newly-elected leftist government. Especially after the European Central Bank decided not to accept Greek state bonds as collateral for banks that need funding. Meanwhile, the Athens Stock Exchange plunged over fears that Greece will collide with its creditors and fail to reach an agreement. “We need a reboot,” Mr. Varoufakis said after the meeting between the two men. The Greek minister asked for fresh funding until the end of May so that Greece can come up with a proposal for a new bailout program. The country’s existing 240-billion-euro bailout program expires at the end of February. However, the new government refuses to implement the austerity measures required for the last, 7-billion-euro tranche of the program. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said that this is the mandate of the people of Greece. Mr. Schaeuble however, said that the election promises of the new leftist government are not realistic when they are at the expense of taxpayers of other European countries. The German finance minister went on to criticize the measures announced by Greece’s new government as “not going in the right direction.” German Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that at the current moment the Greek economy is in no shape to survive without external assistance, however, he said, one must see Greece’s program first in order to decide if they agree or not.
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