Europe moved to reopen funding to Greece’s stricken economy yesterday, hours after a fractious Greek parliament approved a tough bailout program in a vote that left the government without a majority and looking to new elections within months.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won the backing of parliament in the early hours of yesterday morning for the stringent reform measures demanded by Greece’s creditors, led by Germany, but was left weakened by a revolt in his left-wing SYRIZA party.
Greek Minister of the Interior Nikos Voutsis said that a snap election could be held in September or October “depending on developments.”
Photo: Reuters
The move by the Greek parliament was enough to persuade the European Central Bank (ECB) to reopen vital funds for the Greek banking system under its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) program, after eurozone finance ministers signaled they would unlock 7 billion euros (US$7.6 billion) in bridge loans.
“Things have changed now,” ECB President Mario Draghi told a news conference in Frankfurt. “We had a series of news with the approval of the bridge financing package, with the votes, various votes in various parliaments, which have now restored the conditions for a raise in ELA.”
Draghi said the ECB would increase ELA funding by 900 million euros, but he added that it was difficult to make decisions on Greece given the constraints of a program that was never meant to provide unlimited and unconditional support.
Finnish and Lithuanian lawmakers gave their approval to begin negotiations, a day before the German parliament was due to vote on the issue, while the European Commission said it believed an agreement on providing short-term bridge financing to Greece could come shortly.
However, German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble underlined the risks still surrounding the negotiations, saying a temporary Greek “timeout” from the euro might still be a better option.
After a warning from the IMF this week that Greece’s massive public debt could not be managed without a significant writedown, Schaeuble said that a debt “haircut” was incompatible with euro membership and would mean Greece would have to leave the euro, at least temporarily.
“This would perhaps be the better way for Greece,” he told Deutschlandfunk radio.
European finance ministers held a conference call yesterday morning to agree on a plan for the 7 billion euros in bridging funds to enable Greece to meet its immediate debt service needs and avoid defaulting on an ECB repayment on Monday.
In a statement, they agreed “in principle” to start talks with Greece on a new, three-year bailout and also called on Athens to adopt a second set of reforms by Wednesday next week.
All 28 EU nations are expected to contribute, despite the reluctance of non-eurozone members such as Britain and the Czech Republic, after a compromise was found to use eurozone funds to guarantee their ring-fenced contributions.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from
RSS