Speaking in Luxembourg, Tusk said that ‘Greece remains the most pressing issue for Europe. We stand ready to do whatever is necessary to protect the stability of the euro area.’
‘I spoke with prime minister Alexis Tsipras today’, said Tusk. ‘And I hope that today we will receive concrete and realistic proposals from Athens.’
‘And if that happens, we will also need parallel proposal from the creditors.’
If Greece provides a realistic proposal, then “it will need to be matched by an equally realistic proposal on debt sustainability by the creditors”.
‘Only then will we have a win-win situation.’
‘Otherwise we will continue the lethargic dance that we have been dancing for the last five months.’
Merkel: “out of the question”
Meanwhile Angela Merkel from Bosnia where she was at the time of Tusk’s statement said that a classic haircut of Greece’s debt is ‘out of the question’ Merkel is on a tour of western Balkan countries that aspire to join the European Union.
French deny they are helping Greece with proposals
After Greek media widely reported that France had sent technocrats to Athens to help form a proposal for creditors, a French official has denied the story.
“France wants to help things along and very much backs an agreement, but in no way are we helping them draft the proposals,” they said.
