GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): The escalating standoff between Greece and other members of the European Union showed little sign of abating today, prompting more questions about whether the country might soon run out of money, whether it would agree to continuing austerity cuts, or possibly leave the Eurozone altogether.
The demand from the E.U. to Greece: Agree to an extension of a quarter-trillion-dollar bailout program by Friday, or risk losing assistance altogether.
That is not something many Greek citizens want to hear.
COSTAS SKLIROPOULOUS, Greece (through interpreter): I am angry with the logic of the European Union. Perhaps we should consider from now on how this country will acquire a different policy, one that could possibly be outside the frame of the European Union.
GWEN IFILL: Still, some have called on the popular new left-wing government to rein in its resistance to what they have termed an ultimatum.
GEORGE AVGERINOS, Greece (through interpreter): I would have liked them to be more serious from the very beginning. When you’re asking with your hand stretched out, you can’t have this attitude.
GWEN IFILL: European nations have propped up Greek’s unsteady finances since 2010, in exchange for deep spending cuts. But with unemployment topping 25 percent and shrinking bank deposits, many who voted for the new government blame the austerity itself for the country’s economic ills.
In Brussels today, the Greek finance minister, who campaigned on a promise to scrap the bailout, denounced a plan to extend it as absurd. But he didn’t rule out a deal.
YANIS VAROUFAKIS, Finance Minister, Greece (through interpreter): Well, the next step is the responsible step. Europe will continue to deliberate in order to enhance the chances of, and actually achieve, a very good outcome for the average European
GWEN IFILL: His German counterpart, speaking on behalf of the Eurozone, said Athens’ goal remains unclear.
WOLFGANG SCHAEUBLE, Finance Minister, Germany (through interpreter): Greece needs to decide whether they want the program or not. Nobody understands what Greece wants and if Greece knows what it wants.
"After an election built on promises, what can Greece’s new leadership deliver?" PBS NewsHour 2/17/2015
Excerpt
SUMMARY: As bailout talks continue between Greece and other EU members without clear progress, the new Greek government’s election promises seem at odds with economic reality. Gwen Ifill talks to Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and journalist John Psaropoulos about the potential for a rude awakening for Greece and its new leaders.
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