ATHENS: Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won a commitment to seek a last-minute rescue at an emergency euro zone summit, before his country’s banks run out of money.
EU leaders will hold a further summit on Sunday to approve a plan to aid Greece if creditor institutions are satisfied in the meantime with a Greek loan application and reform commitments. “The ball is in Greece’s court,” Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said. “Next Sunday the final meeting will take place on Greece … I am not pessimistic.”German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who arrived saying there was still no basis for reopening negotiations with Athens, changed her tune in the room and was actively involved in efforts to find a last-ditch solution, euro zone sources said.
Merkel said she expected a formal loan request from Athens on Wednesday and more detail on how Greece would cooperate to make its economy more competitive on Thursday, in order to seek the approval of the German parliament to start negotiations. “We all share responsibility for the euro,” she said of the decision to invite all EU leaders on Sunday – a timetable she said reflected the danger of the situation and the urgent need for a solution. Short-term finance could also be made available if the Greek government came up with satisfactory proposals and took “prior actions” in passing laws to convince creditors of its intent.
