Germany stood firm against debt relief for Greece the day after the country’s voters issued a resounding “no” to more austerity, signaling a tough fight ahead on one of the few opportunities for compromise on any potential bailout for Athens.
About 61 percent of Greek voters cast their referendum ballots on Sunday in support of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ stance against the pension cuts and tax increases that Greece’s creditors — the rest of the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund — say are necessary to get Greece’s economy going again.
That leaves cutting debt as a possible make-or-break element of any deal to keep Europe’s currency union intact.
Raising expectations on the possibility of resuming negotiations, the country’s confrontational Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned on Monday under pressure from Tsipras and creditors.
Varoufakis has exasperated European colleagues with his blunt talk and style.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande made no mention of the debt issue at a joint news conference in Paris.
But opposing comments from their finance ministries earlier in the day suggested that the question will be a major theme at a summit of eurozone leaders on Tuesday.
“We have shown a lot of solidarity with Greece, and the last offer (for more bailout aid) was also a generous offer,” Merkel told journalists after the one-hour meeting. “At the same time, Europe can only hold and stand together … if every country lives up to its own responsibility.”
Merkel and Hollande said it was now up to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to make clear his proposals on what his government is prepared to do in return for renewed support from the other 18 eurozone countries.
“Time is pressing here and it is important to us that such proposals must come this week so we can resolve the situation as it presents itself currently,” Merkel said.
