ANKARA
A Greek exit (Grexit) has to be avoided at all costs, the European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has said.
"A Grexit is to be avoided at all costs; it would be a terrible failure for Greece, the EU, and Europe," Moscovici said ahead of a Eurogroup meeting with the Greek government on Tuesday.
He said that Greece’s new Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos was expected to present new proposals at the meeting. "There are solutions, but the first step must come from Greece," he added.
Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem is also expected to meet Tsakalotos ahead of the plenary meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Arriving at the Eurogroup meeting, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said: "Greece has voted in a referendum to have no bailout program. But Greece needs a program. We are here to consider Greek proposals for how to find a solution".
Luxembourg Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna said that any number of proposals were possible, including bridge financing.
"We need to find out where the Greek government wants to go. We need to understand how Greece wants to resolve the contradiction of staying in the eurozone but not accepting any proposals. That's why we need to hear what Greece has to say today," Gramegna said.
Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission vice-president for the euro and social dialogue, said the scenario of Greece leaving the eurozone could not be excluded unless a credible reform package was presented.
"Certainly, it’s (Grexit) not our aim, it’s not our intention we are working towards [the] scenario where we could reach an agreement but if trust is not rebuilt if there is no credible reform package in place [then] it cannot be excluded," Dombrovskis said.
