Still reeling from a decision by Greece’s high court suspending his decision to take the national broadcaster ERT off the air, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was scheduled to talk with officials from the country’s international lenders late on June 18 as he prepared for a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers on June 20, a day after he meets his coalition partners in a bid to gain their backing for his plan to reorganize the state TV and radio station.
Envoys from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) have been pushing the government to speed the pace of reforms, which have taken a setback of late with the lack of interest in the state-run natural gas supplier DEPA that didn’t draw a single bid. Russia’s Gazprom, which had been in the running to take it over, pulled out at the last moment.
That means Greece will not be able to meet the Troika’s goal of raising 2.6 billion euros ($3.48 billion) this year although Samaras has reiterated that he will not impose more austerity measures. He’s also expected to again raise the question of reducing the 23 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on restaurants to 13 percent with the tourist season in full bloom, although the proposal was rejected previously.
The issue was reportedly discussed between Troika officials and Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras earlier on the same day, along with the failure of of EOPPY, Greece’s main healthcare provider, to achieve the targets it has been set, as well as recent developments regarding the fate of ERT and how that has spurred more social unrest just as Samaras seemed to manage to bring some political stability after three years of protests, strikes and riots against austerity.
State TV signals remained blank across the country, a day after the court ruling that ERT must reopen immediately, which was apparently ignored as Samaras, the New Democracy Conservative leader, prepared for a June 19 meeting with his coalition partners a Greek court ruled that shuttered state broadcaster must reopen immediately.
The decision was seen as offering the squabbling ruling coalition a way out of a political crisis over the station’s abrupt closure that prompted among others speculation of a snap election in the debt-wracked country.
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