Greek government Vice President Yiannis Dragasakis on Saturday offered his insight into the new leftist government’s negotiations and the 11th-hour deal that allowed Athens to request a loan extension.
In his address at a SYRIZA Central Committee meeting, Dragasakis said that the creditors’ goal was to “blackmail” Greece’s new government: “You either agree to sign a new Memorandum or you go bankrupt.”
Nevertheless, he referred to the subsequent extension as a “transitional deal” and compromise. “We managed to gain time. We are not compromising our strategic goals. The major deal is ahead,” he said.
