After a long and episodic night (beats me why the session couldn’t start at 9.30 a.m. instead of 9.30 p.m.) the Greek parliament voted in favor of the rescue package.
However, in the process, P.M. Alexis Tsipras lost the majority in his own party (32 of his own ministers voted against him) so has now to decide whether and when to hold elections. Elections are obviously the last thing Greece needs right now. But what is certain is that he cannot implement the very difficult measures contained in this package with the present government.
The Eurozone approved a Greek bailout of up to €86bn in loans over the next three years, in return for far-reaching reforms, essentially tax rises and spending cuts.
“Together, we have looked into the abyss. But today, I am glad to say that all sides have respected their commitments. Greece is living up to its ambitious reform commitments,” Juncker said in a statement. “The message of today’s (meeting) is loud and clear: on this basis, Greece is and will irreversibly remain a member of the euro area.”
Following the approval of the new deal, the International Monetary Fund has called on eurozone ministers to offer Greece debt relief.
Should we Greeks feel relieved? Happy? Are we safe? Hard to tell. Readers’ comments in the papers show anger, anxiety, and general disgust with and mistrust of the politicians involved.
Jokes as usual, are proliferating. Most are untranslatable, but I offer the following two:
😆 In the end, the exact question asked at the referendum was: Are the austerity measures proposed enough for you or would you like more?
YES meant ‘They’re enough for us,’ and
NO meant ‘No, we want more!’
😅 Phew! Thank God, Greece will not go bankrupt now. Only the Greeks will.
Letters from Athens 
I think debt relief is the only realistic way forward. But tell that to the other impoverished states like Ireland, Portugal etc. The problem with the euro is that countries cannot control their own interest rates. The Euro rate is controlled by economic factors in Germany so they can export cheaply to Greece.
Greece needs a more attractive environment for investment like low corporate taxes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, the Euro seemed like a good idea at first, but did not materialize. It should have been handled better by the Eurozone. The English did well to stay out of it.
LikeLike