Grécia quer aprofundar as relações diplomáticas com a Rússia /

Grécia quer aprofundar as relações diplomáticas com a Rússia

1/4/2015, OBSERVADOR

"Gostaríamos de permanecer no navio chamado Europa, mas se o capitão nos empurra ao mar, temos de tentar nadar", afirmou o ministro do Trabalho grego no contexto da visita de Tsipras a Moscovo.

Durante a próxima semana, o primeiro-ministro grego, Alexis Tsipras, irá fazer uma visita a Moscovo, Rússia, marcando um novo capítulo na política externa da Grécia e nas suas relações bilaterais, escreve o jornal grego Ekathimerini. Em discussão estará a proposta de cooperação feita pela Grécia ao Governo russo, relativamente à construção de um novo gasoduto que se estenderá da Turquia à Rússia, passando pelo Mar Negro.

A algumas semanas de esgotar as reservas de dinheiro e de os credores internacionais, Fundo Monetário Internacional (FMI), Banco Central Europeu e Comissão Europeia, terem suspendido a ajuda financeira até serem implementadas novas reformas, a Grécia procura agora reforçar as suas alianças diplomáticas.

“Nós gostaríamos de permanecer no navio chamado Europa, mas se o capitão nos empurra para o mar, temos de tentar nadar”, afirmou Panos Skourletis ministro grego do Trabalho, no contexto da visita de Tspiras a Moscovo, que decorrerá na próxima semana, segundo a agência Reuters.

A visita destina-se a descobrir se a “amizade histórica com a Rússia pode ser esticada para outros níveis”, explica Skourletis. Na terça-feira, Alexis Tsipras afirmou-se contra as sanções da União Europeia à Rússia, explicando que se tratavam de “uma estrada para lado nenhum”, segundo a agência russa TASS, de acordo com o jornal norte-americano Wall Street Journal. Na mesma entrevista, o primeiro-ministro grego disse que a Grécia se poderia tornar numa “ponte entre o Ocidente e a Rússia”.

Na primeira cimeira da União Europeia em que Tsipras participou, em janeiro de 2015, Alexis Tsipras afirmou que poderia existir uma cooperação melhorada entre a Grécia e a Rússia nos setores energético, turístico e agrícola. Essa cooperação poderá permitir à Grécia “exportar os seus produtos agrícolas para a Federação da Rússia”, sugeriu o líder do governo grego, de acordo com o jornal Ekathimerini.

The union and the euro are at stake, Greece warns EU

Greece presents eurozone officials with list of measures aimed at unlocking badly needed aid

Helena Smith in Athens

Wednesday 1 April 2015 / http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/01/the-union-and-the-euro-are-at-stake-greece-warns-eu

The viability of the EU – and its most cherished creation, the single currency – are at stake, Greece warned on Wednesday as the country at the epicentre of the continent’s debt crisis continued to haggle over a cash-for-reforms deal with international creditors keeping it afloat.

Presenting eurozone officials with its latest list of measures aimed at unlocking badly needed aid, Athens’s leftist-led government urged EU member states to forge a new relationship based on “solidarity, resolve and mutual respect”.

“The Hellenic Republic considers itself to be a proud member of the European Union and an irrevocable member of the eurozone,” stated the introduction of a 26-page list of reforms proposed by the Greek government and leaked by the Financial Times in Brussels. “Yet the viability of that union, and especially of the common currency, is now in question, in the minds of many Greek citizens as it is in the minds of many among our European partners.”

The document – the centrepiece of a teleconference call between officials representing the euro working group officials and Greek finance ministry – said it was now up to the EU to rise to the challenge.

“It is necessary now, without further delay, to turn a corner on the mistakes of the past and to forge a new relationship between member states, a relationship based on solidarity, resolve, mutual respect and a new hope for common progress,” it read.

Austerity-stricken Greece wanted to “launch a new partnership” and a new model for development and growth within the bloc.

The warning came as fraught negotiations between Athens and foreign lenders showed little sign of concluding anytime soon – and as liquidity in crisis-hit Greece showed every sign of drying up imminently.

A widely anticipated meeting of eurozone finance ministers – at which a potential deal would be given the seal of approval – is unlikely to happen in the coming days. Greek officials had hoped that €7.2bn (£5.2bn) in emergency funding, outstanding from its €240bn original bailout programme, would be disbursed once the comprehensive plan had been presented. The aid is vital to averting default and staving off the country’s euro exit.

Instead, Greek officials spoke of negotiations continuing throughout April, with another euro working group likely to take place next week. “There is a growing sense of convergence even if the talks are difficult,” said one. “The next euro group is likely to take place as scheduled on the 24th.”

That leaves Athens desperately trying to keep apace with debt repayments – it must redeem €450m to the IMF on 9 April – while servicing government expenditure as public finances become ever more perilous.

Creditors at the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund have insisted that bailout funds will not be forthcoming if Greece fails to provide a convincing plan of reforms to overhaul its economy and boost competitiveness. Germany, which has contributed the most to the bailout programme, has said prime minister Alexis Tsipras’s administration has until the end of April, at the very latest, to propose reforms.

Greek officials are clearly feeling the heat. Many are finding it increasingly hard to hide their exasperation with tactics they say are deliberately aimed at undermining Tsipras’s two-month-old anti-austerity government. “A campaign of rumour, innuendo and deliberate leaks is being waged against us,” said one well-placed source. “They keep saying the Greeks are not well-prepared, they haven’t done their homework, their proposals are vague, all of which are grotesque and preposterous lies.”

With each passing day – as savers withdraw funds and non-performing loans mount – the Greek banking system came closer to collapse. “It seems they want to push us to the brink of Grexit [a Greek exit from the euro], squeeze us to our last drop of blood and breath, in the hope that they can get a little bit more out of us.”