No decisions yet on Greek bailout, says Samaras

The European Union leaders’ summit concluded in Brussels on Friday without any concrete decisions having been taken about Greece’s economic future despite Prime Minister Antonis Samaras holding a series with top officials.

“Nothing has been decided yet,” said Samaras at a news conference, during which he added that discussions about Greece exiting its bailout at the end of the year with a precautionary credit line are continuing.

Samaras met on Friday with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi as well as French President Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Dutch President Mark Rutte, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Irish leader Enda Kenny.

“They are all sympathetic to our cause,” said Samaras, without giving any more details about his talks on the sidelines of the European Council.

“Our aim is to return to normality and for Greece to become a normal country,” added the premier, who admitted that the lack of economic growth in the eurozone as well as geopolitical dangers in other parts of the world are creating concern about how Greece might cope if it leaves its bailout.

Reuters reported on Friday that the government has sent a letter to the EU and the International Monetary Fund outlining its case for demands for further pension reform to be removed from the ongoing review of the Greek program. An official told the news agency that Athens argues in the letter that the current pension system is viable until 2060.

The troika had asked the government to merge several supplementary pension funds by next month but this would lead to a further cut to pensions, which the coalition wants to avoid.