Galery

1

Outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou met face to face with his possible alternative, Lucas Papademos. Almost all political reporters from Greek television confirmed the news. According to the information, the PASOK leader is willing to clear all the inhibitions that Papademos might have before the latter takes up the premier's post in the coalition government.

His main task will be to sign the contract for financial assistance from the summit on October 26 and legally ensure the implementation of the measures that will be necessary to restructure the Greek economy. He should trigger the machine of the actual recovery of Greece, and then early elections will take place.

Meanwhile, it became clear that the President of the council of eurozone finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker and European Commissioner for Economic Affairs in the EU Commissioner Olli Rehn said that they would require written assurances from Antonis Samaras and George Papandreou on the implementation of the obligations under the second bailout contract. They said it would not be enough for the new coalition government and its ministers, whose names are not yet known, to ratify the agreement.

Political support of the two largest parties in the country is necessary to avoid further risks regarding the implementation of required fiscal consolidation and structural change. With the implementation of the decisions of 26 October this year, Europeans are bound to "pour out" another  € 130 billion by the end of 2014 and do not want these funds to go in vain as most of the first bailout.

"The sixth tranche will be paid after the obligations under the programme are fulfilled," cut short the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble late last night at the meeting of Eurogroup. He stressed that Greece should follow the model implemented in Portugal and Ireland, where the government and the opposition had pledged that they would fulfil their obligations under the bailout agreement.

The whole of Europe wants to see the signatures of the government and the opposition in the new memorandum, as it remembers the disposition of Greek politicians. On the other hand, Washington insists that whatever decisions are taken in Athens, they should be implemented quickly because international patience on the Greek question has run out. A European domino effect is now underway and Italy is just a step away from entering the rescue programme of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

Today at noon a new Council of Ministers will be held in Athens, during which Papandreou is expected to formally resign. It has been announced from the Government Information Centre that no additional information would be disclosed before the Council of Ministers ends.