Greece defies creditors over pension ‘red line’

Greece defied its international creditors yesterday by sticking to “red lines” on pension and labour market reforms and urging lenders to give ground, dimming prospects of progress next week towards securing desperately needed financial aid.

Despite efforts by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker to coax leftist prime minister Alexis Tsipras into moving on two key conditions for releasing EU/IMF bailout funds, the Greek government spokesman said lenders could not expect Athens to make all the concessions for a deal.

“There should not be an expectation on the part of institutions… that the government will back down on everything,” Gabriel Sakellaridis told a news conference. “When you negotiate, there should be mutual concessions. We won’t go beyond the limits of our red lines. It’s clear that we cannot cut pensions.”