|
 Tsipras emerged from late-night talks with senior EU officials in
Brussels saying a deal with international lenders was "within sight"
and that Athens would make a crucial payment due to the
International Monetary Fund on Friday.
But he rejected pension cuts and a tax rise on electricity that he
said European and IMF creditors wanted among conditions to release
7.2 billion euros ($8.2 billion) in frozen loans and avert a default
that could hit euro zone and world markets.
European Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said he was
convinced an accord would be reached, adding: "I am optimistic, but
there is still a way to go." French Finance Minister Michel Sapin
told Reuters: "It's not yet signed, but it's progressing."
An EU spokesman said Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who
hosted Tsipras for dinner on Wednesday at the EU executive's
headquarters along with the chairman of euro zone finance ministers
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, would reconvene their meeting in the coming
days. He declined to say when.
Juncker cut short a meeting with a group representing EU regions on
Thursday saying he had got only three hours sleep and had "to
prepare the next round of negotiations".
A Greek government official told reporters that Athens hoped to wrap
up the talks by June 14, leaving just enough time for national
parliaments in Germany and elsewhere to approve the aid
disbursement. He also said Greece aimed to incorporate more elements
of its own rival document in a final agreement.
BACKLASH IN ATHENS
As partial details of the lenders' proposal leaked out, members of
Tsipras' government and his Syriza party denounced the conditions as
"murderous" and unacceptable.
The backlash highlighted the risk of a split in Syriza if the prime
minister decides he has to accept the deal, not least because a big
majority of Greeks want to stay in the euro zone.
"(Juncker) took on the dirty work and conveyed the most vulgar, most
murderous, toughest plan when everyone hoped that the deal was
closing," Alexis Mitropoulos, a deputy parliament speaker and senior
official within Syriza told Mega TV. "And that at a time when we
were finally moving toward an agreement we all want because we rule
out a rift leading to tragedy."
Avgi, the Syriza party newspaper headlined Thursday's edition: "A
continuation of austerity? No, thanks!", while the top-selling
centre-left daily Ta Nea splashed: "Death toll required for an
agreement."
Some lawmakers in the ruling party have said Tsipras could call
early elections or a referendum if he had to accept a deal that
crossed Syriza's "red lines".
But Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who has been sidelined from
the Brussels talks, said he saw "no reason whatsoever" to go to
elections since the people had given the government a clear mandate.
Tsipras dismissed talk that Athens might skip a 300 million euro
repayment to the IMF due on Friday, telling reporters: "Don't worry
about it. We have already paid 7.5 billion, so we will continue."
Conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras, who led the
government that implemented much of Greece's bailout before being
defeated in January, urged Tsipras not to call elections but to seek
a national consensus on the negotiations.
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COMPROMISE
With Europe's big powers, and the United States, concerned about the
unpredictable outcome as Greek reserves shrink toward zero, the
creditors did signal some willingness to compromise, notably by
lowering the budget surplus Athens will be required to run before
debt service payments.
Sources familiar with the proposal said they now sought a primary
surplus of 1 percent of gross domestic product this year and 2
percent next year. Greece has offered 0.8 percent this year and 1.5
percent in 2016.
Tsipras reprised the positive tone he has taken since he secured a
four-month extension of a bailout package in February. "I believe an
agreement is in sight," he said. "But we need to conclude the
discussions with a realistic point of view," he added, making clear
his reservations.
"We are very close to an agreement on the primary surplus. That
means all sides agree to go further without tough austerity measures
of the past," the prime minister said.
But he also again ruled out scrapping a supplement for low-income
pensioners or a value-added tax change that he said would raise the
tax on electricity by 10 percentage points.
Juncker, whose institution is not itself a creditor, has been active
in trying to broker a deal and has ruled out Greece leaving the euro
zone, an outcome many EU officials fear would undermine the
long-term stability of the currency.
Euro zone finance ministers, wary of their own voters who are fed up
with bailing out Greece, are keen to avoid Athens exploiting
divisions between hawks and doves among negotiators.
Tsipras, whose government has been critical of a hard line from the
IMF, again praised Juncker's executive for showing understanding of
the Greek predicament.
On Wednesday, Tsipras agreed in his third telephone call in a week
with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois
Hollande on the need for an immediate solution involving a lower
primary budget surplus target for Greece.
(Additional reporting by Deepa Babington, Renee Maltezou and George
Georgiopoulos in Athens, Alastair Macdonald and Foo Yun Chee in
Brussels; Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
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