The Eurozone’s nineteen Finance Ministers held a teleconference on Wednesday to discuss Greece’s request for a two-year deal with the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and decided to not take further action on the matter until after Sunday’s referendum.
Eurogroup President Jeroen Disselbloem said after the meeting that Eurozone members took note of Greece’s proposals to the institutions and reiterated that the program that expired yesterday cannot be extended.
Earlier in the day, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged Greeks to vote NO to a proposed bailout package in Sunday’s referendum through a televised speech. This stance evidently played an important role in today’s Eurogroup outcome.
“The main decision was that given the political situation, the rejection of the previous proposals, the referendum, which will take place this Sunday, and the ‘No’ advice of the Greek government, we see no ground for further talks at this point,” Disselbloem said. “There will be no further talks in the coming days, not on a Eurogroup level nor between Greek authorities and the institutions on proposals and financial arrangements. We will simply await the outcome of the referendum on Sunday and take into account the outcome of that referendum.”
Disselbloem also said he is sorry for the way things have turned out and expressed his support to the Greek people wanting to remain in the Eurozone.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said that his European counterparts commented that Greece’s proposals are “in the right direction” but needed further explanations on its fiscal effects. He also denied any possibility of a “bail-in” for Greek bank deposits and cited the viability of the Greece’s debt as the main point of contention.
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