BRUSSELS (MNI) – The European Commission on Wednesday evening said
that it expects Eurozone governments to pay Greece a E5.2 billion
tranche of aid due Thursday, but admitted that it could not confirm that
the payment would in fact be made.
“Our position is that we expect this to be paid,” said a spokesman
for the Commission. “But at the end of the day it is not E5.2 billion of
the Commission’s money,” he said.
Diplomats in Brussels said the issue was being discussed at the
highest levels of government in their capitals.
Some Eurozone governments are understood to be reluctant to send
the funds, which they had already agreed to do in March, after elections
in Greece over the weekend threw into doubt the country’s commitment to
reforms agreed with the EU and IMF in return for the aid.
Greece looks likely to face the prospect of a second election as
talks between political parties aiming to form a coalition flounder over
whether the country should stick to the tough fiscal consolidation
policies and reforms it agreed to with the EU and IMF.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, speaking in Brussels
Wednesday, said that Greek voters were seeking irreconcilable aims by
supporting anti-bailout parties while saying in opinion polls that they
wanted Greece to remain in the Eurozone.
–Brussels Newsroom, +324-952-28374; pkoh@marketnews.com
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