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| Tsipras Tries to Rally Greek Support for Bailout Proposal | Tsipras Tries to Rally Greek Support for Bailout Proposal |
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| ATHENS — Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras began the apparently delicate task on Friday of selling his anti-austerity party and the rest of the Greek Parliament on a three-year rescue package that was remarkably similar to the one Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected in a referendum less than a week ago. | |
| Yet, with a Sunday deadline looming for a decision on the bailout, a crunch point that all sides see as Greece’s last chance to avoid bankruptcy and stay in the euro, Mr. Tsipras’s government coalition appeared set to approve the proposal. | Yet, with a Sunday deadline looming for a decision on the bailout, a crunch point that all sides see as Greece’s last chance to avoid bankruptcy and stay in the euro, Mr. Tsipras’s government coalition appeared set to approve the proposal. |
| In a speech to lawmakers that was at once conciliatory and defiant, Mr. Tsipras admitted he had “made mistakes” by dragging out the bailout negotiations, but said approving the proposal would end “once and for all” fears that Greece could exit the eurozone. Adding that he “did not deceive the Greek people” when he urged them to vote no to the referendum, he said that new financial aid, while tied to hard conditions, would allow the battered Greek economy eventually to recover. | |
| Far-left lawmakers who had originally sought to scuttle the bailout signaled their support, while a handful of coalition members said they would vote no. Parliamentary approval in Greece would set the stage Saturday for a possible approval by European countries of a deal that would allow negotiations to go forward on a comprehensive bailout package. | Far-left lawmakers who had originally sought to scuttle the bailout signaled their support, while a handful of coalition members said they would vote no. Parliamentary approval in Greece would set the stage Saturday for a possible approval by European countries of a deal that would allow negotiations to go forward on a comprehensive bailout package. |
| Lawmakers took up the measure after a whiplash-inducing 24 hours in which Mr. Tsipras decided to give in to most of the demands of Greece’s creditors. In exchange, he won the opportunity to negotiate for $59 billion in new bailout money, on top of about $270 billion Greece has received since 2010, and potential negotiations to reduce the repayment terms on the debt. His capitulation also potentially allowed Greece to avoid a catastrophic exit from the euro. | Lawmakers took up the measure after a whiplash-inducing 24 hours in which Mr. Tsipras decided to give in to most of the demands of Greece’s creditors. In exchange, he won the opportunity to negotiate for $59 billion in new bailout money, on top of about $270 billion Greece has received since 2010, and potential negotiations to reduce the repayment terms on the debt. His capitulation also potentially allowed Greece to avoid a catastrophic exit from the euro. |
| Even as a vote neared in the Greek Parliament, influential voices in Germany and Eastern Europe expressed skepticism throughout the day about whether Greece would follow through on pledges to be more fiscally responsible. And a crowd of people gathered outside the Parliament building in Athens Friday evening to protest Mr. Tsipras’s abrupt U-turn, with many saying they felt betrayed after he urged them to reject the bailout in the historic referendum last Sunday. | Even as a vote neared in the Greek Parliament, influential voices in Germany and Eastern Europe expressed skepticism throughout the day about whether Greece would follow through on pledges to be more fiscally responsible. And a crowd of people gathered outside the Parliament building in Athens Friday evening to protest Mr. Tsipras’s abrupt U-turn, with many saying they felt betrayed after he urged them to reject the bailout in the historic referendum last Sunday. |
| One of the demonstrators, John Papageorgiou, 45, a teacher of mathematics to teenagers with special needs, said he would have liked for Greece to drop the euro currency, because he believed the euro advantaged certain countries, like Germany, while disadvantaging others, like Greece. | One of the demonstrators, John Papageorgiou, 45, a teacher of mathematics to teenagers with special needs, said he would have liked for Greece to drop the euro currency, because he believed the euro advantaged certain countries, like Germany, while disadvantaging others, like Greece. |
| Nonetheless, he said, he did not feel betrayed by Mr. Tsipras’s compromise efforts, and said he believed that the European leaders would recognize that Greece’s debt was illegal. His friend, Maria Antonopoulou, 44, who works for a public electric company, interjected, “We love Tsipras. We needed him as Greeks. We have faith in him. Compared to what we had, he’s clean.” | Nonetheless, he said, he did not feel betrayed by Mr. Tsipras’s compromise efforts, and said he believed that the European leaders would recognize that Greece’s debt was illegal. His friend, Maria Antonopoulou, 44, who works for a public electric company, interjected, “We love Tsipras. We needed him as Greeks. We have faith in him. Compared to what we had, he’s clean.” |
| Mr. Tsipras said that he would resign if he lost the vote in Parliament, which requires the support of 151 lawmakers to pass. Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister whom Mr. Tsipras asked to resign Monday, said on Twitter that he would not participate because of “family reasons.” Greek television broadcast images of him and his wife on Friday taking a ferry and their red Mini Cooper to their vacation home on the Greek island of Aegina. | Mr. Tsipras said that he would resign if he lost the vote in Parliament, which requires the support of 151 lawmakers to pass. Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister whom Mr. Tsipras asked to resign Monday, said on Twitter that he would not participate because of “family reasons.” Greek television broadcast images of him and his wife on Friday taking a ferry and their red Mini Cooper to their vacation home on the Greek island of Aegina. |
| The new proposals were given a swift thumbs-up by France and lifted hopes in Brussels that, after months of ill-tempered arguments and fruitless crisis meetings, Greece and its creditors could reach a deal by midnight on Sunday to prevent a fracturing of Europe’s currency union. | The new proposals were given a swift thumbs-up by France and lifted hopes in Brussels that, after months of ill-tempered arguments and fruitless crisis meetings, Greece and its creditors could reach a deal by midnight on Sunday to prevent a fracturing of Europe’s currency union. |
| The goal is not to seal an agreement that would immediately provide Greece with fresh funding, but simply to get a formal green light to start what could be lengthy negotiations on a new bailout to replace one that expired on June 30. Just the signal to start talks, though, could lift, at least temporarily, a dark cloud of uncertainty and give the European Central Bank cover to perhaps expand recently frozen emergency cash for Greek banks, which have been closed since June 29. | The goal is not to seal an agreement that would immediately provide Greece with fresh funding, but simply to get a formal green light to start what could be lengthy negotiations on a new bailout to replace one that expired on June 30. Just the signal to start talks, though, could lift, at least temporarily, a dark cloud of uncertainty and give the European Central Bank cover to perhaps expand recently frozen emergency cash for Greek banks, which have been closed since June 29. |
| A final agreement is still far from a sure thing. A raft of actors — 19 eurozone finance ministers, 28 European Union leaders, who have been called to Brussels to discuss the crisis on Sunday and the various bureaucracies in Brussels — need to examine the proposal in detail before giving their approval. And there is so much bad blood after months of insults, frustration and failure, there is little faith in European circles in Greece’s pledges to carry out a raft of measures like tax increases and cuts in pension spending. | A final agreement is still far from a sure thing. A raft of actors — 19 eurozone finance ministers, 28 European Union leaders, who have been called to Brussels to discuss the crisis on Sunday and the various bureaucracies in Brussels — need to examine the proposal in detail before giving their approval. And there is so much bad blood after months of insults, frustration and failure, there is little faith in European circles in Greece’s pledges to carry out a raft of measures like tax increases and cuts in pension spending. |
| Representatives of the main creditors — the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the other European nations that use the euro — were poring over the Greek proposal on Friday. Their assessments will play a critical role in any decisions by the Eurogroup, an assembly of finance ministers from euro-using countries, which is scheduled to meet in Brussels on Saturday. | Representatives of the main creditors — the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the other European nations that use the euro — were poring over the Greek proposal on Friday. Their assessments will play a critical role in any decisions by the Eurogroup, an assembly of finance ministers from euro-using countries, which is scheduled to meet in Brussels on Saturday. |
| Even Mr. Tsipras’s party, Syriza, which drafted the proposals with help from French experts, seemed confused, with members voicing concern over measures that the culture minister, Nikos Xydakis, described on Friday as “very tough.” Many lawmakers from Syriza, an argumentative coalition of left-wing groups, had serious misgivings about the proposal, but as the discussions continued Friday seemed to agree in essence with | Even Mr. Tsipras’s party, Syriza, which drafted the proposals with help from French experts, seemed confused, with members voicing concern over measures that the culture minister, Nikos Xydakis, described on Friday as “very tough.” Many lawmakers from Syriza, an argumentative coalition of left-wing groups, had serious misgivings about the proposal, but as the discussions continued Friday seemed to agree in essence with |
| Mr. Xydakis said in an interview: “No, it’s not a better deal. It’s a tough deal and the only one we can get right now.” | Mr. Xydakis said in an interview: “No, it’s not a better deal. It’s a tough deal and the only one we can get right now.” |
| Euclid Tsakalotos, the new finance minister, defended the government’s proposal to creditors on Friday, telling the Greek Parliament that the plan reflected an earlier joint statement by party leaders that called for debt relief and emergency funding in return for “credible measures.” | Euclid Tsakalotos, the new finance minister, defended the government’s proposal to creditors on Friday, telling the Greek Parliament that the plan reflected an earlier joint statement by party leaders that called for debt relief and emergency funding in return for “credible measures.” |
| Arriving for the session on Friday morning, a visibly rattled Panagiotis Lafazanis, the energy minister who leads Syriza’s radical Left Platform faction and has railed against further austerity, refused to answer reporters’ questions. Mr. Xydakis, complained that Greece faced an “intransigent Germany,” adding: “We will have to see how we will survive in this very tough framework.” | Arriving for the session on Friday morning, a visibly rattled Panagiotis Lafazanis, the energy minister who leads Syriza’s radical Left Platform faction and has railed against further austerity, refused to answer reporters’ questions. Mr. Xydakis, complained that Greece faced an “intransigent Germany,” adding: “We will have to see how we will survive in this very tough framework.” |
| Speaking to members of Syriza in the parliament building on Friday, Mr. Tsipras said his government has a “mandate from the Greek people to bring a better agreement” but “we do not have a mandate to take the country out of the eurozone,” an event that would follow a decisive rupture with creditors. | Speaking to members of Syriza in the parliament building on Friday, Mr. Tsipras said his government has a “mandate from the Greek people to bring a better agreement” but “we do not have a mandate to take the country out of the eurozone,” an event that would follow a decisive rupture with creditors. |
| Mr. Tsipras, who last week vowed never to succumb to creditors’ terms he condemned as the work of “extreme conservative forces,” seems to have calculated that it was worth making concessions in order to secure the proposed three-year $59 billion bailout loan and the possibility of negotiating easier terms for repayment of the nation’s massive debt. When Syriza began negotiations with creditors after it came to power in January, the objective was a more modest unblocking of about $8 billion from an existing bailout program that has since expired. | Mr. Tsipras, who last week vowed never to succumb to creditors’ terms he condemned as the work of “extreme conservative forces,” seems to have calculated that it was worth making concessions in order to secure the proposed three-year $59 billion bailout loan and the possibility of negotiating easier terms for repayment of the nation’s massive debt. When Syriza began negotiations with creditors after it came to power in January, the objective was a more modest unblocking of about $8 billion from an existing bailout program that has since expired. |
| “It is largely a capitulation on Tsipras’s part to what creditors have been asking for, but is that enough?” asked Raoul Ruparel, co-director of Open Europe, a research group in London. “Germany and some others are very skeptical about anything the Greeks produce, and this goes back to the main problem — a total lack of trust.” | “It is largely a capitulation on Tsipras’s part to what creditors have been asking for, but is that enough?” asked Raoul Ruparel, co-director of Open Europe, a research group in London. “Germany and some others are very skeptical about anything the Greeks produce, and this goes back to the main problem — a total lack of trust.” |
| While President François Hollande of France welcomed the new Greek proposals as “serious” and “credible,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and her key ministers kept silent Friday, insisting that it was too soon to judge the suggestions now being reviewed by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the I.M.F. “We will wait until the institutions examine them and express their opinion,” said Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for the German government. | While President François Hollande of France welcomed the new Greek proposals as “serious” and “credible,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and her key ministers kept silent Friday, insisting that it was too soon to judge the suggestions now being reviewed by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the I.M.F. “We will wait until the institutions examine them and express their opinion,” said Steffen Seibert, a spokesman for the German government. |
| But he reiterated Germany’s longstanding insistence that all 19 countries that use the euro must follow the rules, a position that has made Berlin resistant in the past to pleas from Greece that demands for tight budgets must be relaxed and debts restructured to prevent the country from suffocating. | But he reiterated Germany’s longstanding insistence that all 19 countries that use the euro must follow the rules, a position that has made Berlin resistant in the past to pleas from Greece that demands for tight budgets must be relaxed and debts restructured to prevent the country from suffocating. |
| Martin Jäger, spokesman for Germany’s hard-line finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said that the outcome of the Saturday gathering remains “completely open.” Both Mr. Schäuble and his boss, Ms. Merkel, have ruled out writing off any of Greece’s debt under what Ms. Merkel has called “a classical haircut,” or debt writedown, but they have indicated they might be open to further extending payment deadlines and reducing interest rates. | Martin Jäger, spokesman for Germany’s hard-line finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, said that the outcome of the Saturday gathering remains “completely open.” Both Mr. Schäuble and his boss, Ms. Merkel, have ruled out writing off any of Greece’s debt under what Ms. Merkel has called “a classical haircut,” or debt writedown, but they have indicated they might be open to further extending payment deadlines and reducing interest rates. |
| Some of Ms. Merkel’s political allies and the governments of eastern and central European countries that have taken an even tougher line on Athens than Germany raised doubts Friday about Greece’s readiness and ability to deliver on its new promises, delivered late Thursday just before a midnight deadline fixed by creditors expired. | Some of Ms. Merkel’s political allies and the governments of eastern and central European countries that have taken an even tougher line on Athens than Germany raised doubts Friday about Greece’s readiness and ability to deliver on its new promises, delivered late Thursday just before a midnight deadline fixed by creditors expired. |
| Hans-Peter Friedrich, a member of the Christian Social Union, which is part of Ms. Merkel’s conservative bloc, expressed skepticism, noting the similarities between the new Greek proposal and the one rejected by the Greek people. | Hans-Peter Friedrich, a member of the Christian Social Union, which is part of Ms. Merkel’s conservative bloc, expressed skepticism, noting the similarities between the new Greek proposal and the one rejected by the Greek people. |
| “That means there are two possibilities, either the Greek government is tricking its own people, or us yet again,” Mr. Friedrich told Deutschlandfunk radio early Friday. But he said he had not yet seen the full Greek proposal and suggested he could be swayed. | “That means there are two possibilities, either the Greek government is tricking its own people, or us yet again,” Mr. Friedrich told Deutschlandfunk radio early Friday. But he said he had not yet seen the full Greek proposal and suggested he could be swayed. |
| “We will see what the experts have to say,” Mr. Friedrich said. “And we will ask critical questions.” | “We will see what the experts have to say,” Mr. Friedrich said. “And we will ask critical questions.” |
| Also doubtful was Peter Kazimir, the finance minister of Slovakia, one of the countries that use the euro and whose previous government fell in 2011 over whether to support an earlier bailout deal with Greece. On his Twitter account on Friday, Mr. Kazimir said “it seems we have progress” on Greece but added: “One can only wonder how quickly a caterpillar can turn into a butterfly.” | Also doubtful was Peter Kazimir, the finance minister of Slovakia, one of the countries that use the euro and whose previous government fell in 2011 over whether to support an earlier bailout deal with Greece. On his Twitter account on Friday, Mr. Kazimir said “it seems we have progress” on Greece but added: “One can only wonder how quickly a caterpillar can turn into a butterfly.” |