EUROZONE-GREECE/VOTE/REACTIONS Greek lawmakers express hope for an agreement at crucial Eurogroup meeting

Record ID: 328475

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/VOTE/REACTIONS Greek lawmakers express hope for an agreement at crucial Eurogroup meeting
  • Date: 11th February 2015
  • Summary: ATHENS, GREECE (FEBRUARY 11, 2015) (REUTERS) ++ NIGHT SHOTS ++ EXTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT VARIOUS OF PRESIDENTIAL GUARDS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT VARIOUS OF MEDIA GATHERED OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT ENTRANCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEPUTY ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM MINISTER, GEORGE KATROUGALOS, SAYING: "We are going to negotiate and I think that we can reach a mutually beneficial agreement, because nobody wants to split (the) eurozone or the European Union. Everybody has an interest in a clear solution." KATROUGALOS ENTERING HIS CAR (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) LABOUR MINISTER, PANOS SKOURLETIS, SAYING: "(Tonight) it was one of those times when the feelings of the Greek people were heard inside parliament. Our country - with a different attitude, a different international standing, with a voice that we had not seen in previous years - defended its right to walk its own path and speak on an equal footing and fight for a better future." JOURNALISTS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW DEMOCRACY LAWMAKER, ADONIS GEORGIADIS, SAYING: "I think there will be a very interesting Eurogroup, I hope there will be good results for my country, but I am not very optimistic." NEW DEMOCRACY LAWMAKER, OLGA KEFALOGIANNI, LEAVING (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) NEW DEMOCRACY LAWMAKER, YANNIS TRAGAKIS, SAYING: "Tomorrow is the hard part. I feel that we have lent our support on some of the crucial issues at stake, but we will not allow our country to crash on the rocks. We will defend the country's European path at all costs." REPORTER ASKING: "What do you think will happen tomorrow?" TRAGAKIS ANSWERING: "It will be a very difficult negotiation, he has set out to do very difficult things and will fall below the standard he has set." (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) INDEPENDENT GREEKS PARTY LEADER, PANOS KAMMENOS, SAYING: "I think this is a very important day for Greece. We proved that from now on, it is a nation that is negotiating, not two coalition partners. The Greek people illustrate it through poll ratings and their acceptance of this government. Tomorrow, all of Greece will be behind Yanis Varoufakis when he goes to negotiate in Brussels." KAMMENOS LEAVING NEW DEMOCRACY LAWMAKER DORA BAKOYANNIS LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 26th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1MUL6WI1DGLKWCWMBKLEOSZ8N
  • Story Text: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras comfortably won a confidence vote on Wednesday (February 11) on his plan to tear up a deeply unpopular bailout programme and challenge European leaders, as both sides prepare for a showdown at meetings in Brussels this week.
    In a rousing speech to parliament, Tsipras hailed the decisive role "little Greece" was playing in reshaping Europe and promised Athens would not cave in to demands it extend its international bailout "no matter how much" German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble asked for it.
    He won the vote with the backing of 162 lawmakers in the 300-seat chamber.
    The vote came after Schaeuble said that if Greece did not want a new aid programme, "then that's it", adding to a chorus of warnings from European policymakers urging Athens to seek an extension to the programme when it expires at the end of the month.
    Tsipras - whose tough stance has the backing of 75 percent of Greeks according to an opinion poll - said he was confident the two sides would reach an agreement. But there was little sign of progress in bridging differences ahead of crunch meetings of eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday and EU leaders on Thursday (February 12) when assistance to Athens beyond February is discussed.
    Administrative Reforms Minister George Katrougalos said he believed an agreement could be reached, as no one wanted to break up the eurozone.
    "We are going to negotiate and I think that we can reach a mutually beneficial agreement, because nobody wants to split (the) eurozone or the European Union. Everybody has an interest in a clear solution," said Katrougalos after the vote.
    But lawmakers from the main opposition New Democracy party were less optimistic about the mood of Greece's lenders.
    "I think there will be a very interesting Eurogroup, I hope there will be good results for my country, but I am not very optimistic," said New Democracy lawmaker Adonis Georgiadis.
    "Tomorrow is the hard part," said Ioannis Tragakis. "It will be a very difficult negotiation, he has set out to do very difficult things and will fall below the standard he has set."
    Defence minister Panos Kammenos, the leader of Syriza's junior coalition partner, the right wing Independent Greeks party, said Greece's finance minister Yanis Varoufakis would have the support of the entire nation when he goes to Brussels later on Wednesday, citing the government's high poll ratings.
    "I think this is a very important day for Greece. We proved that from now on, it is a nation that is negotiating, not two coalition partners. The Greek people illustrate it through poll ratings and their acceptance of this government. Tomorrow, all of Greece will be behind Yanis Varoufakis when he goes to negotiate in Brussels," said Kammenos.
    Varoufakis will go to the Eurogroup meeting with a series of requests for its creditors, including a transitional period during which Greece and its partners can discuss ways to make Athens' debt viable.
    Eurozone creditors led by Germany, the bloc's main paymaster, first want to see firm commitments to an economic reform programme under outside supervision incorporating policies agreed by the previous conservative-led government.
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