Greek PM Tsipras to start round of talks with opposition parties

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras is scheduled to brief the leaders of the Greek political parries on Monday and Tuesday on the results of the June 15 EuroGroup meeting. Mr. Tsipras is expected to meet today at 6pm with the leader of “Potami” party Stavros Theodorakis, while at 7pm he will see the president of the centrist party “Union of Centrists”, Vassilis Leventis. On Tuesday, the Greek PM will inform the leaders of the Greek communist party (KKE), Dimitris Koutsoumbas at 11am, Fofi Genimata of PASOK at 12pm and finally with the president of major opposition party New Democracy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis at 1.30pm on the results and other current matters.  The government considers the EuroGroup outcome a success as the final statement signed by the Eurozone Ministers includes a paragraph related to growth and the Greek debt, while it clearly defines a series of medium-term measures for debt relief. At the same time it focuses on ways to boost economic growth in the country, while for the first time the European partners commit to provide support to Greece to borrow from the markets through the setting up of a savings fund in order to act as a cushion to boost the value of Greek bonds. Despite the government’s narrative that the final agreement was a success, it failed to be included in the ECB’s quantitative easing programme, while it was also compelled to accept a tough primary surplus target until 2022. On their part the opposition parties do not share the Greek government’s positive reading of the deal. During his meetings with the political leaders Mr. Tsipras will also discuss the Cypriot issue.