Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s new left-wing finance minister, stated that his government will not negotiate with the troika of the international creditors which consists of the European Commission, the ECB, and the IMF. Citing the minister, Athens aims to seek direct talks with eurozone’s leaders, so a new agreement will “allow the country to breathe”. He was speaking at a press conference after meeting Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the eurozone group of finance ministers, in Athens. Yanis Varoufakis termed the meeting fruitful and expressed hope that “a foundation for constructive cooperation is to be created taking into account interests of Greece, the eurozone, and the European Commission.” Besides, the Greek minister highlighted that “the atmosphere of trust is needed”, as a result "a new agreement will emerge following talks between all Europeans".
Athens is ready to achieve "maximum co-operation" with Greece's international creditors, but that the government will not work through the troika, which Mr. Varoufakis called "a committee built on rotten foundations". However, the troika is supposed to wrap up their latest review of Greek finances at the end of February, based on which they would dish out another €7.2 billion of bailout money. So, the resolution of the debt commitments will depend on how the troika will assess the reforms implementation in the country. The previous decision-making on the tranche lasted for over 8 months being interrupted more than once.
