ATHENS, greece — Less than a week after Greece ushered in a new government, uncertainty has returned in a rather unexpected form.
The nation’s newly installed prime minister, Antonis Samaras, and his nominee for the crucial post of finance minister, Vassilis Rapanos, have been hospitalized since Friday after being stricken with ailments.
They will miss a crucial European Union summit meeting Thursday and Friday that was intended to discuss whether to ease the terms of Greece’s bailout conditions, a government spokesman said Sunday. A ministerial delegation will replace them at the meeting.
With the two officials in the hospital, representatives of Greece’s so-called troika of foreign creditors have postponed a trip to Athens scheduled for today, state television reported Sunday. A new date had yet to be set.
The creditors — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — are supposed to review Greece’s progress in installing the terms of a recent bailout package of 130 billion euros, or $173 billion.
The review must occur before the lenders can negotiate with the new government over whether to soften the bailout terms to reflect Greece’s deteriorating economic conditions.
On Saturday, Samaras’ coalition government said it would seek to revoke certain taxes, ease the repayment terms for taxpayers owing money to the state, suspend planned layoffs in the public sector and extend by two years the deadline for imposing additional austerity measures. But the talks cannot take place until Rapanos is installed as finance minister.
Rapanos, 65, who reportedly has a history of health problems, was supposed to be sworn in Saturday. Instead, he was rushed to a hospital Friday after complaining of intense abdominal pain and nausea. Doctors said he was stable but would undergo additional tests and remain hospitalized until tonight or Tuesday, pending the results.
Also Friday, Samaras, 61, underwent an eye operation. His doctor on Sunday forbade him to move for several days.
