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Greek PM Tsipras set for crunch debt talks in Brussels Greek PM Tsipras calls for unity before Juncker debt talks
(about 1 hour later)
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is due to take part in talks in Brussels, where he will be presented with a new plan to solve Greece's debt crisis. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called on Europe's leaders to show unity and realism ahead of a key meeting on Greece's debt crisis.
International creditors will detail economic reforms needed if Greece is to receive further funding. International creditors will present a new plan of economic reforms needed for Greece to receive further funding at the talks in Brussels later.
Mr Tsipras has already put forward new proposals of his own that he says would involve painful concessions.Mr Tsipras has already put forward new proposals of his own that he says would involve painful concessions.
A €300m (£216m) payment from cash-strapped Greece to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is due on Friday. His government is due to repay €300m (£216m) to the IMF on Friday.
The draft deal has been put together by the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank following emergency talks late on Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. Greece's bailout deal with the IMF, European Central Bank (ECB) and European Commission runs out at the end of June, and the cash-strapped government has been haggling since February over the release of the last €7.2bn in funds.
The details remain under wraps but the document is believed to call for pensions changes and an overhaul of labour laws. There are also reports of ambitious targets for Greece's primary surplus - the amount by which tax revenues exceed public spending, not including interest payments.
'Division''Division'
Mr Tsipras will hear details of the plan when he meets European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the eurozone's finance ministers, on Wednesday evening. The latest draft deal has been put together by international creditors following emergency talks late on Monday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
As he prepared to leave Athens with several key ministers, the Greek leader said he was going to meet Mr Juncker to discuss his government's proposals, and had not received any new documents from lenders. The details remain under wraps but the document is believed to call for pensions changes and an overhaul of labour laws. There are also reports of ambitious targets for Greece's primary surplus - the amount by which tax revenues exceed public spending, not including interest payments.
He said he was certain Europe's leaders would "sign up to realism". "We need unity, we must avoid division," he said. Mr Tsipras will hear details of the plan when he meets European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday evening.
Mr Juncker's spokeswoman dampened hopes of an imminent deal, telling reporters that no "final outcome" was expected from Wednesday's talks, His own proposals, which he said were "a realistic plan for Greece to exit the crisis", were dismissed by the head of eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, as going "nowhere near far enough." Reuters said it included restrictions on early retirement as well as low primary surplus targets.
'Patience wearing thin' Mr Dijsselbloem was also due to take part in the Brussels talks, officials said.
However, in a sign that all sides are pushing for a solution, a conference call was planned between Mr Tsipras, Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande, a French official said. As he prepared to leave Athens with several key ministers, the Greek leader said he was going to meet Mr Juncker to discuss his proposals, and had not received anything from international lenders.
The BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says that while this deal may not quite be a take-it-or-leave-it offer, there appears to be little room for manoeuvre. He said he was certain Europe's leaders would "sign up to realism". "We need unity, we must avoid division," he said in a statement.
Patience is wearing thin after months of acrimonious negotiations, he says. Pushing for a solution
Mr Juncker's spokeswoman dampened hopes of an imminent deal, telling reporters that no "final outcome" was expected from Wednesday's talks.
However, in a sign that all sides were pushing for a solution, a conference call was planned between Mr Tsipras, Chancellor Merkel and President Hollande, a French official said.
Eurozone still in denial - by Robert Peston, BBC economics editor
With €300m due to the IMF on Friday, and a further €1.3bn later this month, this has always been a row about book-keeping entries and the accounting treatment of debts.
It is a dispute about whether the eurozone's creditors will release funds so that they can pay themselves and avoid having to call Greece in default.
Or to put it another way, it is all about whether the IMF and eurozone can keep up the pretence that Greece is a sound and solvent debtor.
But doesn't it normally tell you something pretty important about those who owe you money when you have to lend to them so that they can keep up the payments to you?
Read more from Robert
Greek debt crisis: Special report
Mr Tsipras's far-left Syriza party won elections in January on a pledge to oppose deeply unpopular austerity measures imposed by Greece's creditors.Mr Tsipras's far-left Syriza party won elections in January on a pledge to oppose deeply unpopular austerity measures imposed by Greece's creditors.
Breaking those promises would be a bitter pill for the Greek prime minister to swallow, our correspondent adds.
However, failure to reach a deal could trigger a Greek default and a potential exit from the eurozone.However, failure to reach a deal could trigger a Greek default and a potential exit from the eurozone.
On Tuesday, Mr Tsipras said he had submitted "a realistic plan for Greece to exit the crisis".
He said the 47-page plan included "concessions that will be difficult", but Mr Dijsselbloem said "we are nowhere near far enough."
Syriza's parliamentary group chairman Nikos Philis warned that if "we have no prospect of a deal on Friday or Monday, we won't pay the money", referring to the 5 June debt instalment to the IMF.Syriza's parliamentary group chairman Nikos Philis warned that if "we have no prospect of a deal on Friday or Monday, we won't pay the money", referring to the 5 June debt instalment to the IMF.
Eurozone still in denial about Greece - Robert Peston, BBC Economics editor Friday's payment is the first of four that Greece is due to pay to the IMF in June.
There is something wonderfully mad about the idea that if Greece's creditors can agree on a bailout, which they have done, that represents important progress.
Because, as won't have escaped your notice, the biggest problem all along has been that the youngish Syriza government of the debtor, Greece itself, hates the conditions imposed by the creditors for the mooted rescue.
The fundamental disagreement between Greece and its lenders - eurozone nations, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - is over the degree of further austerity to which Greece must commit in order to receive 7.2bn euros of additional credit.
But although for the pride of the creditors, the question of whether Greece is obliged to generate a surplus on its budget, excluding interest payments, of a bit more than zero or 3%, feels like a world of difference - it is a rounding error compared with the money Greece owes them, which is equivalent to 180% of Greek GDP.
Read more from Robert
Greek debt crisis: Special report
Friday's payment is the first of four totalling €1.5bn that Greece is due to pay to the IMF in June.
It is understood Greece could repay all the instalments in a single transaction at the end of the month, although it has not yet notified the IMF that it wishes to do so.It is understood Greece could repay all the instalments in a single transaction at the end of the month, although it has not yet notified the IMF that it wishes to do so.
The country remains in a four-month deadlock with international creditors over the release of €7.2bn in remaining bailout funds.