Pressure for an immediate debt solution

Prime Minister George Papandreou will hold two important meetings today to discuss the debt crisis in the Eurozone and the Greek problem and at the same time present the decisions and new measures taken by the government. The first meeting will be with the president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy in Warsaw, and later in the afternoon he will meet Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.

The Greek side will once again have the opportunity to raise the issue of acceleration of the Agreement of July 21 and the issue of drafting a wider European development program. The PM will also express the Greek government's determination to fulfill the conditions laid down by the Troika.

The positive vote on the European mechanism for support by the German parliament and the new performance records of the Italian bonds have caused mixed feelings in European governments. The Greek government estimated that pretty soon European leaders will provide a solution, since the debt crisis in Greece is already dangerously “infecting” some of the other Eurozone countries.

Associates of the PM estimate that the discussion on the details for the implementation of the July 21 Agreement can last even until the end of November, while they dismiss any connection with the release of the sixth tranche. Thus, they consider the two meetings to be very important parts of the daily painful negotiation process, in response to the main opposition leader Antonis Samaras.

The discussion with Sarkozy will be within the same context as the one with Merkel. Papandreou will stress the need for development initiatives in order for the parallel recovery measures to perform, and will address public sector reforms and the privatization program.