Schäuble on his meeting with Varoufakis: We agreed to disagree 

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February 5, Thursday – Statements of the two Finance Ministers after the conclusion of their meeting.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ crucial meeting with his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble in Berlin begun at around 12.30 (Athens time) and lasted for approximately 1.5 hour.

During a press conference that was held after the meeting, the German Finance Minister told the press that he had a detailed discussion with his Greek counterpart, which reflected the traditional friendship between the two countries.

“We both agreed that we remain committed to a united Europe. Europe has a difficult journey ahead. There are many problems. The most difficult journey in this process falls to Greece,” Schäuble underlined.

“We must acknowledge the progress that has been made by Greece,” the German FinMin said, making specific reference to the reduction of unemployment and the fact that Greece had a primary surplus in 2014.

“However, we agreed to disagree over the steps that Greece must take now,” he said, underlining that the country must continue to work with the IMF, the ECB and the EC.

The German FinMin also noted that Greece must reform its tax system and that, although the measures announced by Greece are going in the right direction, corruption must be rooted out.

Schäuble reiterated Germany’s proposal to offer its expertise, by sending 500 German tax officers to Greece. That offer wasn’t taken up before, but it’s still on the table.
Finally, the German Finance Minister said that a debt haircut is not on the agenda, it’s off the table.

On his part, Yanis Varoufakis disputed the claim that they “agreed to disagree”.

“We didn’t discuss Greece’s debt schedule, but we set the scene for deliberations,” the Greek FinMin said, stressing the need to agree on an approach that will end this seemingly never-ending crisis that began in Greece and spread across the eurozone.

Varoufakis underlined that it is time to put an end to the “gross indignity” that has been forced on Greece, adding that the German people want an end to the crisis too.
“We in Greece will stop at nothing to crack down on tax evasion,” Varoufakis said and sent a clear message to the people of Germany, that they can expect “a frenzy of reasonableness from Greece.”

Varoufakis also pledged that SYRIZA government will bring policies that will help the average European and described the situation Europe is currently in as a critical crossroads.

“Expect from us an unwavering commitment to telling it as it is…This is our commitment…We haven’t even been sworn in yet, and we seek that most precious of commodities, time. We need a bridging loan to give us time to talk to our partners,” the Greek FinMin said.

Background

The meeting took place amid tensions caused by the ’s announcement yesterday that it has decided to restrict the eligibility of Greek bonds used as collateral from February 11, rather than the agreed deal for a decision at the end of February.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Yanis Varoufakis stated that he will try to be as charming as he can in Berlin.

“I will tell Mr Schäuble that we may be a Left-wing riff-raff but he can count on our Syriza movement to clear away Greece’s cartels and oligarchies, and push through the deep reforms of the Greek state that governments before us refused to do,” the Greek FinMin said.

Source: protothema.gr – Schäuble on his meeting with Varoufakis: We agreed to disagree

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