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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-06-28
CONTENTS
[01] Samaras calls on PM to call off referendum 'lacking content'
[02] Greek government, European Commission spar what triggered referendum
[01] Samaras calls on PM to call off referendum 'lacking content'
ANA-MPA -- Main opposition New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras on
Sunday urged the Greek people to stay calm and united, in a statement
after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced that capital controls
would likely be imposed. At the same time, he called on Tsipras to
cancel plans for a referendum, which he said now "lacked content"
and had become a parody.
Alexis Tsipras knows that it was primarily his own mistakes that forced
him to even close the banks, Samaras said. The country must remain
in the heart of Europe and the euro, Samaras emphasised, and the prime
minister has an obligation to continue the negotiations. If he cannot
do it himself, let him brave a great national understanding, he added.
"On our part, we will do everything to restore normality in the country
and return hope to the Greeks," the ND leader said.
[02] Greek government, European Commission spar what triggered referendum
ANA-MPA -- Government sources and the European Commission on Sunday
continued to give differing accounts of events at the Eurogroup that led
to a breakdown in the negotiations and the Greek government's decision
to call a referendum.
Responding to the Commission's announcement that it had presented
proposals with improved VAT rates, the Greek side insisted that Eurogroup
President Jeroen Dijsselbloem had demanded that Athens accept the
institutions' proposal by Saturday, thus presenting a clear ultimatum.
Greek sources said the document released by the Commission was never
given to the Greek government and that the only change is the VAT rate for
hotels, which was lowered to 13 pct from the 23 pct proposed by creditors
in the "ultimatum" document on Thursday morning. This 'improved' offer
essentially reverted back to a proposal presented by the institutions
on Wednesday (23 pct VAT on restaurants/catering, 13 pct for hotels from
July 1) that the Greek side had already rejected, the sources pointed out.
If there had been a change of stance, Greek sources insisted, this was
not announced officially to the Greek government "and is a matter that
concerns the Institutions." Earlier, the European Commission released
a draft of the proposals that the institutions' presented to Greek
authorities on June 26, aiming at an agreement in the Eurogroup on June
27, with an announcement saying that it wanted to brief the Greek people
on the latest proposals in order to ensure transparency. The Commission
said that the last proposal took into account the proposals submitted
by Greece on June 8, 14, 22 and 25, as well as discussions held in the
last week on a political and technical level. "Discussions on this text
were ongoing with the Greek authorities on Friday night in view of the
Eurogroup of 27 June 2015. The understanding of all parties involved
was that this Eurogroup meeting should achieve a comprehensive deal
for Greece, one that would have included not just the measures to be
jointly agreed, but would also have addressed future financing needs
and the sustainability of the Greek debt. It also included support for
a Commission-led package for a new start for jobs and growth in Greece,
boosting recovery of and investment in the real economy, which was
discussed and endorsed by the College of Commissioners on Wednesday 24
June 2015," the announcement said. However, neither the final version of
the text nor the comprehensive agreement could be finalised and presented
to the Eurogroup due to the Greek side's decision to unilaterally break
off the talks on Friday night, the Commission said. Government sources
responded with a non-paper pointing out that the Commission's document
confirmed that the extent of the measures demanded by the institutions.
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