As euro-region finance ministers turned the
screw on Greece in Friday’s talks, the group’s usual enforcer,
Wolfgang Schaeuble of Germany, was eclipsed by Spain’s Luis de
Guindos, according to two people with direct knowledge of the
talks.
De Guindos took the toughest line with Greek Finance
Minister Yanis Varoufakis as the bloc forced him to adhere to
the terms of the country’s existing bailout to retain access to
official financing, the people said, asking not to be named
because the conversations were private.
When the group rejected Schaeuble’s call for a Tuesday meeting to scrutinize Greece’s plans to meet those conditions, De Guindos insisted, winning agreement for a teleconference, they said.
The Spanish government is particularly sensitive to the fortunes of the Syriza government in Greece because the party’s Spanish ally, Podemos, has surged to the top of some recent polls.
A victory for Varoufakis would have strengthened Podemos’s argument that De Guindos’s boss, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, was wrong to impose austerity on Spain.
The Spanish government “has always been constructive but
it has to defend its interests,” Guindos said on Friday. “A
climate is developing in which the new Greek government is
adapting to the rules that affect us all.”
A spokeswoman for De Guindos said Spain is in favor of dialogue and flexibility within the existing rules and has shown its solidarity with Greece by contributing 26 billion euros ($30 billion) to its bailout at a time when its own financing conditions were not good.
Struggling to fend off a sovereign default, the Greek government acceded to European demands that it respect the conditions of its existing bailout package at Friday’s meeting in Brussels.
The Greek government must submit a list of economic measures it will undertake by Monday and finance chiefs will then decide whether the proposals go far enough.
When the group rejected Schaeuble’s call for a Tuesday meeting to scrutinize Greece’s plans to meet those conditions, De Guindos insisted, winning agreement for a teleconference, they said.
The Spanish government is particularly sensitive to the fortunes of the Syriza government in Greece because the party’s Spanish ally, Podemos, has surged to the top of some recent polls.
A victory for Varoufakis would have strengthened Podemos’s argument that De Guindos’s boss, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, was wrong to impose austerity on Spain.
A spokeswoman for De Guindos said Spain is in favor of dialogue and flexibility within the existing rules and has shown its solidarity with Greece by contributing 26 billion euros ($30 billion) to its bailout at a time when its own financing conditions were not good.
Struggling to fend off a sovereign default, the Greek government acceded to European demands that it respect the conditions of its existing bailout package at Friday’s meeting in Brussels.
The Greek government must submit a list of economic measures it will undertake by Monday and finance chiefs will then decide whether the proposals go far enough.
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