The Greek and German finance ministers got together in Berlin for a meeting on renegotiating Greece’s debt on Thursday, but it seems there was not much of a meeting of minds.
At a news conference in Berlin afterwards Wolfgang Schäuble told reporters that he and Yanis Varoufakis had “agreed to disagree” signalling he was having none of a Greek plea for a compromise deal with its bailout creditors.
Varoufakis outlined his hopes: “What we request at this stage is perhaps the most precious of commodities – time. A short space of time during which our government can present to our partners – to the International Monetary Fund, to the European Central Bank, to the European Commission – comprehensive proposals, as well as a road map, for the very short term – we call this a bridging programme – for the medium term, and indeed for the long term.”
Schäuble said Greece cannot expect further relief paying back the money it owes, rejecting the idea of a bridging loan, until the end of May:
