BERLIN
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out any negotiations with Athens on a new aid program before the Greek referendum on the bailout process takes place on June 5.
“Now we are waiting for the referendum. There can be no negotiation on a new aid program for Greece before the referendum,” Merkel said in her address to the German parliament on Wednesday.
She expressed readiness for further talks with Athens after the referendum, but urged compromise.
“A good European is not the one that seeks an agreement at any cost. But the one who respects European agreements and national laws, and thus helps to prevent any damage to the stability of the eurozone,” Merkel said.
She underlined that any new aid program for Greece would also need the approval of the German parliament.
“Because from now on we are in the legal framework of the European Stability Mechanism,” she said.
The €245 billion bailout program for Greece under the European Financial Stability Facility ended on Tuesday midnight, as talks between Athens and international creditors to extend the program collapsed on Saturday.
Tsipras’ last-ditch proposal
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras offered on Wednesday a fresh bailout proposal in a letter to eurozone government heads, accepting most of the terms of creditors' latest bailout offer made on Saturday.
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the bailout program had already expired and any new negotiation with Greece must be for a new program under the European Stability Mechanism, or the ESM.
“Now we are in a completely different situation,” he told reporters in Berlin.
In his address to the German parliament, Schaeuble sharply criticized the Greek government for its policy zigzags and ineffective response to the debt crisis.
“The situation in Greece has dramatically worsened. Since the government assumed office, it has done nothing,” he claimed.
Schaeuble complained about lack of confidence between European partners and Athens, and argued that all should first wait for the result of the referendum before entering into any further talks.
“We still don't know whether the Greek government will hold a referendum or not, whether it will vote for or against it,” he said.
Tsipras left the Eurogroup negotiations late last week and denounced the bailout proposals of international creditors as "blackmail”.
The Greek parliament voted on Sunday to hold a referendum on bailout terms set by the Eurogroup, the EU, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Monday that a “no” vote would be a vote against the euro and staying in the EU.
Since 2010, the EU and the IMF have allocated around €240 billion in bailout loans to Greece to help the government pay its creditors.
