BRUSSELS — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced intense pressure Sunday to back an onerous package of austerity measures demanded by European creditors in return for a financial rescue that would prevent the collapse of the country’s banks and its potential exit from the euro.
If not, then some of Greece’s eurozone partners raised the specter of a temporary Greek exit from Europe’s single currency, which Greece has been a member of since 2002.
It’s unclear what a temporary exit from the eurozone would entail. No country has ever left the joint currency, and there is no mechanism in place to do so.
The Greek government is keen to avoid that fate and has indicated its preference to sign a deal at Sunday’s emergency summit of the 19 leaders of the eurozone despite what it considers to be extremely harsh conditions.
The leaders have vowed to keep talking until something concrete can emerge.
They were presented with a set of proposals from the eurozone’s top official, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who said the sides have “come a long way” after two days of talks among finance ministers.
