Germany and France have ratcheted up the pressure on the Greek government by insisting that Athens stick to its hardline austerity plans in order to remain a member of the eurozone.
Before meetings with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin on Friday and the French president, François Hollande, in Paris on Saturday, the Greek prime minister, Antonis Samaras, was given little hope that the two biggest EU economies were prepared to soften their approach.
Hollande, speaking at a meeting with Merkel in Berlin on Thursday night, said he wanted Greece to remain in the single currency but that the recession-stricken country had to carry out the reforms it had promised.
Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany's finance minister, flatly rejected Samaras's plea that Greece be given two extra years to put its finances back on track.
A decision on whether Athens should be allowed more time will be taken next month by the "troika" – the European Central Bank, the EU and the International Monetary Fund – but Schäuble said it was only six months ago that a second package of help had been provided.
"You cannot just say after half a year, all of that is not enough, because then you will never win the confidence of financial markets," he said on Germany's SWR radio. » | Larry Elliott, economics editor | Thursday, August 23, 2012
