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| Greek crisis: Alexis Tsipras confident of meeting bailout deadline | Greek crisis: Alexis Tsipras confident of meeting bailout deadline |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has said he was confident of meeting an end-of-the-week deadline set by eurozone leaders to reach a bailout deal or risk leaving the euro. | |
| Tsipras told the European parliament that proposals presented to the Eurogroup would involve the restructuring of Greece’s debts along with a package of changes tackling wealthy vested interests in the country, who he said had failed to bear their share of the burden, and an “agenda for growth” to revitalise its ailing economy. | |
| “I am confident that in the next two or three days we will be able to meet the obligations in the best interests of Greece and also the eurozone,” Tsipras said in the speech in Strasbourg. | “I am confident that in the next two or three days we will be able to meet the obligations in the best interests of Greece and also the eurozone,” Tsipras said in the speech in Strasbourg. |
| Greeted by a mixture of boos and cheers from European MPs, the Greek premier added: “Our proposals for financing our obligations and restructuring our debt will not burden European taxpayers.” | Greeted by a mixture of boos and cheers from European MPs, the Greek premier added: “Our proposals for financing our obligations and restructuring our debt will not burden European taxpayers.” |
| Eurozone leaders agreed at an emergency summit late on Tuesday to give Greece until Thursday to submit a new reform plan after Greek voters rejected creditors’ demands in a referendum, with a full EU summit on Sunday the final deadline to reach a deal. | |
| The EU president, Donald Tusk, warned the European parliament before the speech by Tsipras that failure to reach a deal “may lead to the bankruptcy of Greece” and cause geopolitical problems for Europe. | |
| Tsipras called on all sides to work together to prevent a “divided Europe”. | Tsipras called on all sides to work together to prevent a “divided Europe”. |
| “This is a European problem which requires a European solution ... let us not allow it to become a divided Europe,” he said. | “This is a European problem which requires a European solution ... let us not allow it to become a divided Europe,” he said. |
| He added that Greece, which has imposed tough reforms in exchange for two EU-IMF bailouts since 2010, had been used as an “austerity laboratory” by the rest of Europe. | He added that Greece, which has imposed tough reforms in exchange for two EU-IMF bailouts since 2010, had been used as an “austerity laboratory” by the rest of Europe. |
| Earlier, the European Central Bank warned that failure to reach a deal would leave it with no choice but to pull the plug on its support for Greek banks. | |
| Christian Noyer, a member of the ECB’s decision-making governing council, said Sunday would be the last chance to avoid “catastrophe” for the Greek economy. Speaking on French radio on Wednesday morning, he said: “The Greek economy is on the brink of a catastrophe. There must be an agreement next Sunday [12 July] at the very latest. After that it will be too late and the consequences will be grave. | Christian Noyer, a member of the ECB’s decision-making governing council, said Sunday would be the last chance to avoid “catastrophe” for the Greek economy. Speaking on French radio on Wednesday morning, he said: “The Greek economy is on the brink of a catastrophe. There must be an agreement next Sunday [12 July] at the very latest. After that it will be too late and the consequences will be grave. |
| “I fear that if there is no agreement on Sunday the Greek economy will collapse and there will be chaos.” | “I fear that if there is no agreement on Sunday the Greek economy will collapse and there will be chaos.” |
| The ECB has poured €89bn into the Greek financial system in recent months to stave off collapse, but is barred from lending to insolvent institutions. Noyer, governor of France’s central bank, said Greece’s ECB lifeline could not be stretched indefinitely. He said: “We have rules and we have interpreted the rules to their limit to maintain a lifeline to Greek banks, but we cannot continue indefinitely to increase the risks we are taking.” | The ECB has poured €89bn into the Greek financial system in recent months to stave off collapse, but is barred from lending to insolvent institutions. Noyer, governor of France’s central bank, said Greece’s ECB lifeline could not be stretched indefinitely. He said: “We have rules and we have interpreted the rules to their limit to maintain a lifeline to Greek banks, but we cannot continue indefinitely to increase the risks we are taking.” |
| Speaking to the European parliament in Strasbourg, Tsipras insisted he was not seeking a “clash with Europe” and said a detailed set of proposals would be delivered within two or three days, telling MEPs: “I believe that together we can rise to this historical challenge.” | Speaking to the European parliament in Strasbourg, Tsipras insisted he was not seeking a “clash with Europe” and said a detailed set of proposals would be delivered within two or three days, telling MEPs: “I believe that together we can rise to this historical challenge.” |
| But he said the solution must be based on “mutual respect and equality” and must not “repeat the mistakes of the past, which condemned the Greek economy to an impasse of austerity, which trapped our economy in a recessionary vicious circle”. | But he said the solution must be based on “mutual respect and equality” and must not “repeat the mistakes of the past, which condemned the Greek economy to an impasse of austerity, which trapped our economy in a recessionary vicious circle”. |
| Five years of reform imposed under the terms of Greece’s financial bailout had transformed the country into “an austerity laboratory”, with sky-rocketing poverty, soaring unemployment, increased social marginalisation, but also growing public debt, he said, adding: “This experiment, I think all of us have to accept, has not been a success.” | Five years of reform imposed under the terms of Greece’s financial bailout had transformed the country into “an austerity laboratory”, with sky-rocketing poverty, soaring unemployment, increased social marginalisation, but also growing public debt, he said, adding: “This experiment, I think all of us have to accept, has not been a success.” |
| Tsipras, whose leftwing Syriza party was swept to power for the first time in January, blamed Greece’s economic woes on earlier administrations which had created a “clientilist” state in which tax evasion ran riot and a small group of oligarchs controlled more than half the country’s wealth. Syriza’s plans would “tackle head-on the establishment in our country and change the mindset which has taken us down”, he said. | |
| The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has insisted the door was still open to restarting negotiations, but any new plan must be “serious and credible”. | |
| The ECB has tightened the screw on Greece’s embattled banks – which had been due to reopen on Tuesday but will now remain shut until Thursday at the earliest – by raising the amount of collateral they must provide as security against emergency lending. | The ECB has tightened the screw on Greece’s embattled banks – which had been due to reopen on Tuesday but will now remain shut until Thursday at the earliest – by raising the amount of collateral they must provide as security against emergency lending. |
| The Press Association and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report | The Press Association and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report |