Negotiations Have Been Tense with EZ Finance Ministers

The lowest moment in more than five months of Greek crisis talks for Dutch finance chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem came the night of July 5. Polling stations in Athens had just closed and the principal deal maker for the eurozone’s finance ministers was at home in the university town of Wageningen.

As the results trickled in on his television, it became clear some 61% of Greeks had voted “no” on a bailout offer that Mr. Dijsselbloem had been central in negotiating.

“I expected it to be a ‘no’ vote, because [referendums] always seem to mobilize the protest, the ‘no’ vote very, very strongly,” Mr. Dijsselbloem said. “But I was very sad because the Greek people were led to believe that if they were to vote ‘no,’ the outcome would be better…And it was my conviction, and still is my conviction, that without tough measures you can’t sort this out.”

WSJ

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.