On the 17th February there was a meeting held between Euro zone finance ministers, however it came to an abrupt ending as there was no agreement on how to implement changes to the repayment strategy. President of the Euro group Jeroen Dijsselbloem has been quoted as saying “Recently Greece tried to use the argument of the German debt from World War II, however this movement was rejected from the discussions, with ministers adamant that the repayment will happen.
Reactions across the Euro zone and from America have been varied. Germany being one of the European powers, they were the first financer for Greece, with France in second. Wolfgang Schäuble has declared that if Greece, go ahead with plans to leave the European Union, that the European market will not be affected, as Greece only make up 2% of the European GDP. However the Greek debt has reached over 300,000 million Euros with a deadline for more financial aid from the Union is the 28th February, which will increase their debt, with no repayment in sight. Germany in total has given 46.1 million Euros in financial aid. Since this figure has been released, the figure has decreased, due to attention it received.
France being the second provider of financial aid to the Greek economy, public opinion is increasingly pessimistic with 80% of people believing that the debt is too high and it will never be paid, even with the new political system implemented in Greece.
The bail out plans have even reached across to America and the UK who are both have interests in the Greek economic stability. However if the situation worsens, USA and UK will have no choice but to provide help to Greece, which could include loans, providing the national banks with money, and the implementation of a new currency.
The importance of Greek membership in NATO has increased as it may cause Europe to yield their plans of repayment, as they would prefer Greece to stay apart of the North Atlantic Treaty, rather than leave the EU altogether.
The 28th February will prove to be an important day for the European Markets, as it is expected that Greece will apply for a loan on their €240,000,000 million bailout. Either decision will be a critical day for the European Union, as it could potentially strengthen the EU as Germany predict, or it could start the end for the unitary currency across the continent.
Cristina Martinez Alonso, Helen Kennedy, Raquel Armendariz Sucunza, Segolene Varet
