EUROZONE-GREECE/TALKS REACTIONS Greeks say they are disappointed with country's EU partners after creditors' offer

Record ID: 165433

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/TALKS REACTIONS Greeks say they are disappointed with country's EU partners after creditors' offer
  • Date: 4th June 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (JUNE 4, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF GREEK PARLIAMENT GREEK FLAG VARIOUS OF TOURISTS TAKING PICTURES OF THE PRESIDENTIAL GUARD OUTSIDE THE GREEK PARLIAMENT PEOPLE WALKING BY WATER FOUNTAIN AT SQUARE PEOPLE CROSSING STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) ATHENS RESIDENT, VANGELIS DALIANIS, AGED 40, SAYING: "I don't know if (the talks) will go anywhere whether there will be a clash. One thing's for sure: the people will pay for this situation. And unfortunately all this delay has led us to a point where not only is there no money, but where everyone is also downbeat." (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) ATHENS RESIDENT, EPAMINONDAS GARDELIS, AGED 68, SAYING: "I don't agree with Europe. This Europe is a bad copy of the United States, a bad copy of the States. We expected a different Europe. Unfortunately Tsipras, and I am saying this without being his supporter, but also without being right-wing, has come across the worst case or rather the worst period." (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) ATHENS RESIDENT, ZOE SEFERLI, AGED 70, SAYING: "They all have their share of responsibility, all of them. The programme they (the lenders) have proposed won't work unless they want to drive Greece to poverty. Things are very hard, the people are disappointed. This ongoing confrontation is not helpful." MAN LOOKING AT NEWSPAPER HEADLINES HANGING FROM KIOSK NEWSPAPERS HANGING TA NEA NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING: "Death-toll for an agreement" NEWSPAPERS HANGING ELEFTHEROS TYPOS NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING: "The lenders harsh programme for a deal" NEWSPAPERS EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING: "On the verge of a rift" EXTERIOR OF GREEK FINANCE MINISTRY SIGN ON BUILDING'S FACADE READING (Greek): 'FINANCE MINISTRY' (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) ECONOMY MINISTER, GEORGE STATHAKIS, SAYING: "We are neither rejecting it nor accepting it (creditors offer), there is plenty of room for talks." JOURNALISTS AND CAMERA CREWS CHASING AFTER STATHAKIS AND ASKING QUESTIONS AS HE ENTERS FINANCE MINISTRY GREEK FINANCE MINISTER YANIS VAROUFAKIS SURROUNDED BY JOURNALISTS AND CAMERAS, GETTING OF HIS MOTORBIKE AND WALKING TOWARDS MINISTRY AS JOURNALISTS KEEP ASKING HIM QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CREDITORS OFFER/VAROUFAKIS NOT COMMENTING / VAROUFAKIS ENTERING MINISTRY
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • City:
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7A3ELPIXONYKBHTOQTBF60AI6
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Athens residents expressed concern and dismay on Thursday (June 4) after another round of talks among Greece's prime minister and its European partners failed to bridge the gap between the debt-laden country and its creditors.
    Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras emerged from late-night talks with senior EU officials in Brussels saying a deal with creditors was "within sight", however a package of reforms presented by Greece's international lenders in return for cash has caused dismay and fury in Athens.
    An Athens resident, 40-year-old programmer Vangelis Dalianis, said he was concerned for the country's future as negotiations seemed to lead nowhere and feared ordinary people would once again pay the price.
    "I don't know if (the talks) will go anywhere or whether there will be a clash. One thing's for sure - the people will pay for this situation. And unfortunately all this delay has led us to a point where not only is there no money, but where everyone's downbeat," said Dalianis.
    Another Athens resident, Epaminondas Gardelis, criticised the stance of Greece's European partners saying they were acting more like bosses than equal partners.
    "I don't agree with Europe. This Europe is a bad copy of the United States, a bad copy of the States. We expected a different Europe. Unfortunately Tsipras, and I am saying this without being his supporter, but also without being right-wing, has come across the worst case or rather the worst period," said 68-year-old pensioner Gardelis.
    Pensioner Zoe Seferli said the reform package presented to the Greek government would not work but instead lead more Greeks to poverty.
    "They all have their share of responsibility, all of them. The program they (the lenders) have proposed won't work unless they want to drive Greece to poverty. Things are very hard, the people are disappointed. This ongoing confrontation is not helpful," said 70-year-old Seferli.
    The Greek media reflected the citizen's feelings as top-selling daily Ta Nea headlined its Thursday edition: "Death toll required for an agreement" while leftist Efimerida Ton Syntakton splashed: "On the verge of a rift".
    Athens has been tottering close to bankruptcy for weeks, and worries about the country's fate have prompted Greeks to withdraw money from banks and sent a ravaged economy back into a recession.
    The reactions of dismay pile growing pressure on Tsipras, who has to balance the demands of keeping his party together with the simultaneous need to seal a deal with creditors to get aid flowing into Greek state coffers before cash runs out.
    Earlier on Thursday Economy Minister George Stathakis said the negotiations were ongoing and there was still room to clinch out a deal.
    With Europe's big powers - and the United States - concerned about the unpredictable effects of negotiations dragging on while Greek reserves shrink toward zero, creditors signalled a will to compromise, notably by lowering how much surplus they want a new budget to generate to service Athens debts.
    European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, whose institution is not itself a creditor, has been active in trying to broker a deal and has ruled out Greece stumbling from the euro zone, an outcome many EU officials fear would undermine the long-term stability of the project.
    Greece is due to make a 300-million-euro ($327.93 million) repayment to the IMF on Friday amid growing doubts about its ability to meet all this month's financial obligations.
    The June 5 payment is the first of four this month totalling 1.6 billion euros. Athens, which depends on foreign aid to stay afloat, has said it may not be able to pay the IMF without new loans from its European and IMF creditors.
    Greece has received two EU/IMF bailouts totalling 240 billion euros since 2010, when it lost access to capital markets after admitting it had issued erroneous figures for years concealing the true scale of its budget deficit.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register