What Venizelos asked Samaras for

Although the protagonists during the meeting between the Finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos and the New Democracy head, Antonis Samaras were two, the role of the ND president was limited to that of a listener.

Venizelos was the one who had asked for the private meeting, which apparently lasted for over an hour, with the two politicians discussing “solo” without having any of their associates around them. The FinMin informed Samaras about the course of the economy. At the same time, Venizelos found the chance to ask the ND leader to fully cooperate with the government, partly trying to erase the impression given only yesterday by the words that ND spokesman used, saying that as a party they will never assent to the PASOK handlings.

Being on the other side of the river, the PASOK minister pointed out that there is always fertile ground to work on and what matters most is the cooperation between the government and the opposition.

Venizelos underlined that what is needed in the present frame of events is common engagement on a serious matter such as the Greek financial crisis.

The Greek FinMin said they had a long and essential discussion that covered a broad range of issues such as the debt, the taxation system and the role of the Troika.

Their meeting comes at a time when the atmosphere in the country is blurry, the scenarios about a possible coalition government between PASOK and ND come and go, the negotiations with the Troika are underway and the presence of both Papandreou and Samaras is greatly anticipated at the TIF.

Nevertheless, although the government seems to be seeking “acceptance” from ND, it is being leaked that Samaras is not content with his party members who leave open the possibility of a coalition government when interviewed by the press.