During their meeting in Berlin, Greece and Germany’s ministers of finance have agreed on the existence of a problem but not on how to resolve it. Yanis Varoufakis and Wolfgang Schaeuble spoke for nearly an hour and a half. According to the sources from the Greek Ministry of Finance, they had examined in depth the issue of the Greek crisis, having a common position regarding its definition. The Ministry, however, clarifies that they had different opinions on how to resolve it and indicates that Yanis Varoufakis made clear the memoranda were not the means to solve the problem.
In a statement immediately after the meeting, Varoufakis spoke of "a long, productive meeting in a very friendly atmosphere, which will help speed up the process" and called on the elected politicians to assume their responsibility for the future of the euro zone and the European Union.
"We held a long and productive meeting with Mr. Schaeuble. These are difficult moments for the European Union and especially for the euro zone, and it is the duty of elected politicians to assume their responsibility at the high level and try to reach an agreement that is absolutely required for the consolidation of the euro zone, for the European Union," Varoufakis pointed out, using the expression "historical duty".
The Greek Minister of Finance also noted that the talks took place in a very friendly atmosphere and added,
"There is consensus between us regarding the problem and the goal is to try to break the deadlock in which we have unfortunately been over the past years, in a planned manner, agreed by both sides. I believe that today's meeting will significantly contribute towards speeding up the processes of the past days, weeks, until we come to a final agreement."
In response to a question about whether some concrete concessions had been made Yanis Varoufakis said, "We did not negotiate. We looked for common ground."
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
