The European Parliament’s president arrived in Athens Thursday for a visit closely watched for signs of a potential clash between Greece’s new left-wing government and its bailout lenders.
Martin Schulz is the first European Union official to meet Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose new Cabinet alarmed the Greek stock market Wednesday with promises to renege on a series of key budget commitments made by previous administrations in exchange for 240 billion euros in rescue loans.
Schulz will meet government and opposition officials a day ahead of Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the chairman of eurozone finance meetings.
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“There are many ways for one to react. The veto is the strongest possible way,” said Constantinos Filis, Research Director at the Institute of International Relations. “And if we are going to veto such a decision on our own, this means that we are going to be isolated.”
Deciding to go it alone without seeking allies from among the other EU countries for their stance on the sanctions at a time when Greece faces critical negotiations on its financial future, would be “totally catastrophic,” Filis said.
