If the statements hold any political value – and are in fact reliable, yesterday, Merkel, Sarkozy and Schauble (in the background) made two points clear: They want Greece to remain in the eurozone.

By Aggelos Stagos

This however, depends on Greece – the funds will be allocated if Greece does what is asked. The second point was that the eurozone can continue without Greece. These points were not voiced exactly in this way, but if one is to read between the lines, it is apparent that they want to keep Greece in the eurozone, otherwise we would not be the epicenter of their discussions. On the other hand, Greece will be excluded, if it doesn’t accept the terms.

We don’t know if the leader of the opposition party, Samaras, understood this after his meeting with Papademos, the Prime Minister and after listening to Sarkozy and Merkel’s speeches. We don’t know if PASOK’s members understood this when they voiced the fact that they will not vote on reducing collective agreements or cutting salary benefits. Samaras, the leader of the New Democracy Party did however leave a window of discussion open saying that if an agreement is reached, he will accept it. After all, everyone knows that the lower collective agreements have already been put into practice, if not already nullified.

Of course, there is also the question on why the Troika so insists on the reduction of salaries and wages in the private sector. The argument that they hope that such measures will lead to Greece’s competitive edge are well known. However, the benefits will become apparent in the medium to long term. On the other hand, it is a fact that governments of various countries who have been called upon to support the Greek economy, are now kicking up a fuss as their own countries’ wages and salaries are lower than ours combined with the fact the brevity of their endevours to relieve themselves of the IMF’s control (i.e. Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia).

Undeniably, our days are numbered. Negotiations with the Troika for the new memorandum have been scheduled for January the 16^th. This will also provide an opportunity for the discussions on the PSI to come to an end. If everything goes well, the agreement will be signed for funds to become available for the PSI and the beginning of the appropriate procedure. The memorandum will then be finalized and the process of ratification in Greece and overseas will begin. If and when everything goes smoothly, then the repayment process will begin. In short, ahead of us, we will have to climb mountains and cross seas. If we accomplish this, only then we will get the green light from Merkel and Sarkozy.