Michael Fuchs the deputy head of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s parliamentary bloc has told a German newspaper that Berlin will use its veto to block further aid to the embattled country if the Greeks fail to make further cuts.
Germany, like the rest f Europe is waiting for the outcome of a report by the so-called troika of inspectors sent to Greece to assess whether the nation is on the right track. The troika is comprised of investigators from International monetary fund, European central bank and European Union. Its verdict on the state of Greece’s finances is expected to be released by mid-September and will be the key factor in whether Athens receives the next €31.5billion instalment.
Fuchs said; “You can quote me: even if the glass is half-full, that is not enough for a new aid package,” he said in an interview to appear in today’s issue of the daily Handelsblatt. “Germany cannot and will not agree to that.”
He added that even if other members of the Eurozone call for the funds to be released after the report, “Germany will use its veto” as part of the EFSF temporary rescue fund if it concludes that Greece “has not met the requirements.” He agrees that it was impossible to force a country out of the Eurozone but assumed the “Greek government knows what it needs to do if it is not in a position to fulfil the reform requirements. Germany has reached the limits of what it can bear,”
Fuchs seems to have it in for the Greeks as he and members of his ilk have come down extremely hard on the Greek people, some could even say the Germans have made a bad situation even worse by forcing austerity down the necks of the Greek people. He also argues that the European Central Bank must not become ‘a covert money printing press’ in order to provide the nation with further emergency funding.
The German government has grown increasingly irritated with Greece and its struggling reforms programme. German politicians are now openly questioning whether the country can viably remain a member of the Eurozone.
The situation in Greece has grown increasingly worse the last few months with unemployment rising yet again and GDP in freefall. Social tensions are rising also with hospitals reporting that they can’t afford basic medicines and the fears that far-right groups are on the rise. Racial violence has increased sharply with attacks on foreigners reaching an unprecedented level. Greek Police rounded up thousands of illegal immigrants last week with plans to deport them. Worryingly many Greek people and politicians see the number of foreign workers as a major cause for the country’s woes.
Tensions escalated at the weekend after an Iraqi immigrant was found murdered in the early hours of the morning on a busy street in Athens. Early reports from witnesses have police looking for five individuals who were riding motorcycles in the area, who prior to attacking the unfortunate Iraqi, had attempted to assault a Romanian and a Moroccan national.
Police have refused to comment on the fact that the m.o. of the attackers is very similar to other attacks on immigrants that have been pinned on fascist Golden Dawn supporters.
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