For those who doubted that renewed talks with Greece would move along smoothly, it came as no surprise that the first sang was hit on Friday.
Negotiators from the euro zone were to arrive in Athens to begin discussions to normalize talks with Greece’s creditors. The trouble began when a switch was made in the accommodations for the negotiators—representatives from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund--and instead of being put up close to central Syntagma Square and the government quarter, the ‘troika’ was assigned a hotel much further away.
To make matters worse, even before the start of the discussions and contrary to the agreement reached previously between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the Eurozone bailout committee, restrictions were introduced which included the specific topics to be discussed and which creditors would be included in the meetings.
“It is fundamentally more of the same," said a senior official. "They don't want to engage with the troika."
Delays Temporary
George Stathakis, economy minister dismissed the delays and insisted that the talks regarding the new €86 billion bailout for Greece would still begin on Monday as originally planned and that he was confident that the negotiations would be completed by mid-August. That gives Athens just three weeks to come up with the bailout cash needed to settle a €3.2bn bond held by the ECB.
In the meantime, the negotiating teams have put their visit on hold and are waiting to hear that all logistical issues have been solved before making new travel plans to Athens.
