German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble revisited the time of the negotiations with Greece and his hard stance toward the Greek government during an interview with French newspaper Liberation, published on Tuesday. Brussels.
The German minister blames Samaras for the result of the referendum; in his opinion the Gormer Greek PM was too hesitant in his implementation of reforms.
He also said that he warned Tsipras that it is impossible to stay in the Eurozone and fulfill the promises he made to the Greek electorate.
During negotiations for a third Greek bailout package in July, the German finance minister had proposed to the Greek government a temporary exit from the currency union, with a return a few years later, so that Greece’s debt could also be restructured.Schaeuble explained to Liberation that 15 out of 19 Eurozone finance ministers embraced the idea of a Grexit after believing that Greece would not implement a new bailout program. Cyprus, France and Italy were the only nations that disagreed with a Grexit.
Schaeuble claimed that the proposal for a “timeout” was aimed at helping Greece.
“Greeks are a great people, but Greece is not a state,” he said using European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s phrase. The German Finance Minister claimed he had met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Berlin prior to his electoral victory in January 2015 and told him that it is not possible for Greece to remain in the Eurozone without implementing necessary reforms.
