Monday’s front page of Germany’s leading financial daily the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung shows Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis dashing to a cabinet meeting at the Maximos Mansion, seat of the Greek prime minister. As European Union and Greek leaders struggle to reach a deal to keep Greece in the Eurozone, the German daily describes Varoufakis’ untucked and non-ironed shirt as “civilian clothes”, above the headline “Intensive Mediation Efforts Before Greece Crisis Summit.
Late on Sunday, European Union leaders also welcomed an 11th-hour proposal from the Greek government, just hours before the crucial summit Monday that could decide the cash-strapped country’s future. The news sent European stocks up, though it’s still early to say whether a deal will be reached to avoid a Greek debt default.
According to the Greek Reporter, the new reform package from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras could include capitulations previously branded “taboo,” such as ending early retirement and pension cuts.
But the new proposals could spark a political crisis in Athens, where Syriza’s right-wing coalition partner ANEL strongly opposes abolishing reduced VAT on Greece’s Aegean islands. “If they want to get rid of ANEL from the coalition government, they can bring that measure to parliament and we will vote against it,” Defense Minister and ANEL party member Panos Kammenos said Monday morning.
Grexit or no Grexit, the Eurozone is doomed and will eventually have to “integrate or disintegrate,” a new study says. Read more from The Daily Telegraph.
ABOUT THE SOURCE: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is one of Germany’s leading dailies, founding in 1949. With a focus on business and finance, the “FAZ” is considered center-right on the political spectrum.
