With Greece proposing a six-month loan agreement and Germany insisting on the continuation of the current bailout program, there is a constant exchange of bitter words between officials of the two countries. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has stated repeatedly that Greece will not compromise and will not accept the harsh conditions of the existing program. At the same time, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had stated publicly before Monday’s Eurogroup that he feels sorry for Greeks who have elected such an irresponsible government. Mr. Tsipras said publicly that Mr. Schaeuble “lost his cool” on Greece. The German minister told German radio on Monday that he suspected the Greek government was indulging in a “poker game” noting that the SYRIZA party came to power after a very “unusual election campaign.” “It’s very easy to tell people that others are at fault and others must pay,” he said. On Tuesday, briefing press after the meeting of EU finance ministers, Mr. Schaeuble reported directly on an exchange about Greek plans to raise the minimum wage to 750 euros a month, according to a euobserver.com report. The German minister noted that one of the his colleagues explained to his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis, “to show that it is not just about respecting Greek voters,” how low the minimum wage and social benefits payments in their country was. Mr. Varoufakis, according to Mr. Schaεueble, answered “it might be the case that it is possible to live on such low wages in your country, but not in Greece.” Mr. Schaεueble allegedly said it was an example of why the Eurogroup was “completely unanimous” on Greece, according to euobserver. To add fuel to the fire, the SYRIZA-friendly newspaper Avgi published a cartoon showing the German finance minister in a Wehrmacht uniform saying: “We insist on the soap from your fat. We’re willing to discuss the compost from your ashes.” The German Press made a case out of that. However, Mr. Tsipras stated publicly that the sketch was of bad taste and did not represent the Greek government’s views.
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