Greece Enters Fateful Week as Brussels Talks End Fruitlessly

by Jonathan StearnsMarcus Bensasson

Bloomberg

Greece enters what could be a defining week after last-ditch negotiations between representatives of the Greek government and its creditors collapsed on Sunday.

The euro dropped as the European Commission said the talks in Brussels had broken up after just 45 minutes with the divide between what creditors asked of Greece and what its government was prepared to do unbridged. The focus now shifts to a June 18 meeting in Luxembourg of euro-area finance ministers, known collectively as the Eurogroup, that may become a make-or-break session deciding Greece’s ability to avert default and its continued membership in the 19-nation euro area.

“While some progress was made, the talks did not succeed as there remains a significant gap,” the commission said in a text message. “On this basis, further discussion will now have to take place in the Eurogroup.”

Why Everybody’s in the Dark on Greece

Does Alexis Tsipras actually want to keep Greece in the eurozone?

By SIMON NIXON

June 14, 2015 7:41 p.m. ET

7 COMMENTS

Does Alexis Tsipras actually want to keep Greece in the eurozone?

Until recently, the answer seemed clear. The Greek prime minister fought an election promising to keep Greece in the single currency. Every survey of Greek voters showed strong support for euro membership. No one seriously doubts that a euro exit would be catastrophic for the Greek economy in the short term—and most likely in the long term too, given the potential for social and political turmoil. Sure, his Syriza party has been anti-euro as recently as 2012 and some of its leading figures have continued to argue for exit, but the bulk of the party seemed to have reconciled itself to membership.

Greece and creditors fail in 'last attempt' to reach deal

Sun Jun 14, 2015 4:25pm EDT Related: WORLD, GREECE

BRUSSELS/ATHENS | BY JAN STRUPCZEWSKI AND RENEE MALTEZOU

Reuters

Talks on ending a deadlock between Greece and its international creditors broke up in failure on Sunday, with European leaders venting their frustration as Athens stumbled closer toward a debt default that threatens its future in the euro.

European Union officials blamed the collapse on Athens, saying it had failed to offer anything new to secure the funding it needs to repay 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) to the International Monetary Fund by the end of this month.

'No deal' with Greece as talks in Brussels fail

BBC

A European Commission spokesman said while that progress was made on Sunday, "significant gaps" remained.

Europe wants Greece to make spending cuts worth €2bn (£1.44bn), to secure a deal that will unlock bailout funds.

Greek deputy prime minister Yannis Dragasakis said that Athens was still ready to negotiate with its lenders.

He said Greek government proposals submitted on Sunday had fully covered the fiscal deficit as demanded.

Greece Talks End After 45 Minutes as Focus Shifts to Eurogroup

by Jonathan StearnsMarcus Bensasson

June 14, 2015 — 8:15 PM EEST Updated on June 14, 2015 — 10:02 PM EEST

Bloomberg

Last-ditch negotiations in Brussels between Greece and its creditors collapsed after just 45 minutes on Sunday.

The latest failure to find a formula to unlock as much as 7.2 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in aid for the anti-austerity Greek government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras comes amid growing warnings about the risk of Greece’s exit from the 19-nation euro.

Greece, a Financial Zombie State

By THE EDITORIAL BOARDJUNE 12, 2015

The New  York Times

Greece and the other countries in the eurozone are once again at an impasse days ahead of a crucial deadline. If the two sides do not reach an agreement on how to extend a 240 billion euro ($270 billion) loan program beyond June 30, Greece will most likely default on its debts and would probably be forced to abandon the euro.

A Greek Suicide?

JUN 11, 2015 21

By Anatole Kaletsky

Project Syndicate

LONDON – The good news is that a Greek default, which has become more likely after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ provocative rejection of what he described as the “absurd” bailout offer by Greece’s creditors, no longer poses a serious threat to the rest of Europe. The bad news is that Tsipras does not seem to understand this.

Greece Told to Stop Fighting Creditors' Demands as Deadline Nears

by Karl Stagno NavarraCorina Ruhe

June 11, 2015 — 3:02 PM EEST Updated on June 12, 2015 — 11:43 AM EEST

Bloomberg

Greece was told to stop fighting creditors’ demands and sign a deal that will avert a default as officials plan for a worsening of the crisis.

El-Erian sounds alarm over crisis in Greece

Published: June 11, 2015 11:26 a.m. ET

Market Watch

By SARA SJOLIN MARKETS REPORTER

“…unemployment rate in the Hellenic Republic rose to 26.6% in the first quarter of the year, up from 26.1% in October-December…”

Keeping Greece in the Euro May Have Nothing to Do With Finances

by Maria Petrakis

June 12, 2015 — 2:01 AM EEST

 Bloomberg

A bronze statue of Harry S. Truman stands unguarded along a busy Athens road, a reminder of Greece’s post-World War II position as a strategic bulwark for the U.S. and Europe.

If euro-area policy makers overcome their frustration over Greek financial brinkmanship and cough up more aid, it will be in no small part because of that role.

“Greece’s geopolitical potential has been used as a promise, but mostly as a threat,” said Eirini Karamouzi, lecturer in contemporary history at Sheffield University and author of a book on Greece’s relationship with Europe during the Cold War. “There’s always been the threat of a catastrophic spillover effect if Greece was left to its own devices or, worse, turn into a failed state in Europe’s backyard.”

Despite IMF walkout, Greece hopes for deal on June 18

Fri Jun 12, 2015 2:53am EDT Related: GREECE

ATHENS

Greece hopes to clinch a deal with its lenders at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on June 18, the state minister said on Friday, as time runs short for the country to stave off default at the end of the month.

The statement by Alekos Flabouraris came a day after the International Monetary Fund walked away from negotiations in Brussels, citing major differences, and a top EU leader bluntly told Athens to stop "gambling" with its future.

Greece at the Cliff’s Edge

Creditors warn Athens not to expect a better offer.

June 11, 2015 6:52 p.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

Greece’s talks with creditors entered a new stage Thursday as the International Monetary Fund withdrew from bailout talks. This is the bluntest in a series of increasingly impatient statements from creditors that all make the same point: Athens won’t get a better deal.

I.M.F. Recalls Negotiators as Deadline Looms for Greek Deal

By LIZ ALDERMAN and LANDON THOMAS Jr.JUNE 11, 2015

The New York Times

PARIS — The plotline is familiar by now in Greece’s long-running debt crisis, as bailout talks once again hit a major snag. But at this stage just weeks before the bailout expires, the latest twist could have more serious repercussions.

On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund sent its negotiators on the Greek rescue program back to Washington, in the starkest sign yet that Athens may be forced to default on its debts at the end of the month.

Tusk Says Greece Must Bow to Reality as Gambling Now Over

by James G Neuger

June 11, 2015 — 3:02 PM EEST Updated on June 11, 2015 — 3:31 PM EEST

Bloomberg

European Union President Donald Tusk accused Greece of playing games with its future in the euro zone and pressed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government to make concessions in order to escape economic ruin.

As Greece lurches toward default, businesses hit the wall

Wed Jun 10, 2015 9:32am EDT Related: GREECE

ATHENS | BY ANGELIKI KOUTANTOU

Reuters

When construction of four 6.5 billion euro toll roads across Greece resumed last year, Greek and foreign businesses rejoiced.

Greece Is the Crisis Club’s Odd Man Out

Stunted export sector makes eurozone’s weakest link less responsive to bailout medicine

 The Wall Street Journal

By GREG IP

Updated June 10, 2015 2:06 p.m. ET

53 COMMENTS

Odds are Greece and its international creditors will strike some sort of deal to avoid default before a deadline looming at the end of June.

The bigger question is whether Greece will emerge from a new bailout any better able to grow, and thus support its debts, than it did from prior deals.

What Game Is Greece Playing?

15 JUN 10, 2015 2:00 AM EDT

By Mark Buchanan

 Bloomberg

The repeated willingness of Greece and its creditors to bring the entire euro area to the brink of disaster presents a difficult and fascinating question for economic theorists: What game are they really playing?

On the surface, it seems like a classic game of chicken, in which each side tries to look determined enough to make the other crumble. The creditors, including the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, insist that they can't provide any more debt relief or loosen their austerity demands any further. Greece pushes for more, suggesting that it is willing to default on its debts, possibly triggering an unraveling of the monetary union, if it doesn't get its way.

Grexit: Will Greece Leave The Euro And What Will Happen If It Does?

Clem Chambers, CONTRIBUTOR

Forbes

Will Greece leave the euro? Surely not. Europe must muddle through. There will be a deal and both sides will claim victory and clasped hands will be raised.

Everyone knows there will be no Grexit, only more grandstanding for the gullible home audiences of Europe.

But wait, what if there is a Greek exit from the euro? Leaving the euro is not leaving Europe. It is not even close. And what happens if Greece stays in, what more misery follows for all?

Grexit would be 'start of the end for the eurozone,' says Tsipras

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras has warned in an interview of the costs to EU taxpayers if his country left the eurozone. Athens has meanwhile finally submitted a promised reform plan to its creditors.

http://www.dw.de/grexit-would-be-start-of-the-end-for-the-eurozone-says-tsipras/a-18504543

In the interview in the Tuesday edition of Italy's Corriere della Sera, Tsipras said that if Greece were forced out of the eurozone after failing to make a deal on managing its debt, Spain or Italy could soon follow, precipitating the collapse of the currency bloc.

American Billionaire Makes Risky Bet on Greece Debt Deal

By JACK EWING
JUNE 9, 2015

The New York Times

FRANKFURT — The contrarian American billionaire Wilbur L. Ross Jr. made a bundle betting on the Irish banking system when it was down and out, and a similar wager on Cyprus now looks promising. But Greece may prove to be the toughest test yet of his knack for cashing in on eurozone crisis spots.