Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande urged debt-wracked Greece late yesterday to push through with painful but crucial reforms to safeguard its eurozone future as they began talks in Berlin.
The German Chancellor and French President sent the clear message as they went into a working dinner to discuss the euro crisis and Greece in particular before each meets the Greek Prime Minister separately in coming days.
“It is important for me that we all stick to our commitments... but I will encourage Greece to continue along its path of reforms,” Mrs Merkel said in a brief statement after greeting Mr Hollande with kisses on both cheeks.
Mrs Merkel, who has again topped the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful women, added it was important to wait for a progress report next month by Greece’s international creditors on its reforms before making any decisions.
Mr Hollande, for his part, said he wanted Greece, which is struggling under crippling debt in its fifth year of recession, to remain in the 17-country bloc but that it was in the hands of the Greeks themselves.
“I want Greece to stay in the eurozone,” he said, adding however: “It’s up to the Greeks to make the necessary efforts so that we can achieve this goal.”
Mrs Merkel said she and Mr Hollande would also discuss how to implement decisions taken at the European level on banking supervision, the current crisis in Syria and a treaty marking 50 years of Franco-German cooperation.
“We won’t be bored,” Mrs Merkel quipped, referring to their packed agenda.
Mr Samaras told the German daily Bild on Wednesday that Greece needed “a little breathing space” to make spending cuts and reforms that are a condition for the next tranche of a €130-billion bailout.
In return for the €31.5 billion installment, Athens has committed to €11.5 billion of spending cuts for 2013 and 2014, a period that Mr Samaras reportedly wants to extend by two years.
Mrs Merkel has repeatedly said Greece must stick to what it signed up to and the message was hammered home yesterday by her Finance Minister.
“More time is not a solution to the problems,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told SWR public radio, adding: “More time would, in case of doubt, mean more money.”
After meeting Samaras Wednesday, Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Greece’s place was in the eurozone but urged its government to redouble reform efforts to secure continued EU-IMF financial aid.