Greek government’s moves against its partners

Confirming the view of an EU official who a few weeks said there will not be an agreement before the Christmas holidays, the representatives of the troika left Athens and will return in January.

The Greek government, however, was ready for this development, is preparing for all eventualities that will arise after this evening’s Eurogroup meeting, to which the troika is expected to present an evaluation report on the progress of negotiations.

The Greek economic team hopes the Eurogroup will give its approval for the 1 billion euro tranche, although Yannis Stournaras in statements last night said "there was never a chance to get the tranche tomorrow (Ed today)." He said there has been progress in both contentious issues, Hellenic Defence Systems (EAS) and property auctions, and that no final agreement was reached, suggesting that the issue of EAS will be dealt with in the Eurogroup.

The formal decision on the disbursement will be made by the ESM Thursday, coinciding with the opening of the session of the summit of European leaders and informal negotiations with the Greek side the Troika will continue until then.

The Greek government appears determined to proceed unilaterally to regulate contentious issues if there is not even an informal agreement with the troika.

Especially in the issue of auctions there is need for an immediate legislation and the Greek side can not wait for the return of the troika in January as the end of this month marks the ending of the ban. Meanwhile, the government wants to avoid the release of yet another legislative act, and prefers the legislative assembly, which will be ratified directly in parliament and will no