Report: Greece to Ask EU Payback for 'Sacrifices'
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will ask EU peers Thursday to "respond to sacrifices" by recession-hit Greeks seeking to amend the terms of a second EU-IMF bailout, a report said.
The top-selling daily Ta Nea said that Samaras, who is recovering from eye surgery and will miss an EU summit in Brussels, made the call in a letter to be delivered by President Carolos Papoulias, who will represent Greece.
The full contents of the letter have not been made public.
But according to government sources, the newly-elected conservative premier argues that Greece's latest rescue package, which provides Athens with an additional 130 billion euros ($163 billion) must be revised to take into account a greater-than-expected recession, Ta Nea said.
Samaras heads a three-party coalition put in place after June 17 elections with the aim of renegotiating Greece's bailout by placing more emphasis on growth to overcome a five-year recession.
The government has said it also wants to freeze some reforms, such as minimum wage cuts and more flexible layoff rules, which it sees as exacerbating poverty and a jobless rate already at more than 20 percent.
At the summit, which begins at 1300 GMT, EU leaders will examine a compact for growth and jobs aimed at countering record unemployment and an economic downturn.
The heads of state and government will also discuss plans to create a banking union and increasingly centralize control over budgets.
But the summit is only expected to agree on a roadmap to be finalized at another summit at the end of the year.
Source: Agence France Presse
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