Has Greece surrendered to Europe’s demands?

published 1 July 2015

What's going on?

However, this morning the Greek PM shocked commentators by sending a letter to the "Eurogroup", stating that Greece was prepared to accept the terms of the deal offered on Sunday, which itself was based on the offer on Friday, with only a few minor changes.

Are there any strings attached?

Yesterday, the European Commission reportedly promised that a conference on debt relief (one of the key European demands) would be held in October, if Greece accepted the deal. It is not known whether this is still on the table, or if it was ever part of an offer, and it is not mentioned in the letter.

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Recent events may also make it harder for the creditors to make significant concessions on this issue.

So, is everything settled then?

The main sticking point seems to be that they will not talk to Greece until the referendum has either been cancelled or resulted in a victory for the "Yes" camp.

While Germany has indicated a preference for the latter, cancelling the referendum may be the politically easiest option for him. Criticism from the Council of Europe that there isn't enough time to properly consult Greek voters may also provide asmokescreenfor a cancellation.

What about Tsipras's own party?

While there is still a chance that parliament could reject the deal, Tsipras should be able to win enough support from the other parties. However, if he doesn't win enough concessions on debt relief, or the economy doesn't start to radically pick up, his positioncould become untenable.