Eurogroup president urges speedy Greek elections

Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem urged Greece yesterday to hold elections as soon as possible to avoid delays in implementing a third bailout package.

“I hope that they are as quick as possible so that the least possible amount of time is wasted,” he told journalists in The Hague.

“I think the intention of Prime Minister [Alexis] Tsipras is to get a more stable government.”

Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, said holding elections did not breech its bailout agreement.

“If all the agreements are abided by, and of course we’re going to be watching that strictly, it’s naturally allowable to have elections in a country,” he said.

European policymakers said yesterday they expected Greece to press on with reforms agreed under its new bailout regardless of Tsipras’ decision to resign and seek new elections.

Meanwhile, European policymakers saw Tsipras’ resignation and election call as a gambit to consolidate support for Athens’ new bailout.

Tsipras stepped down on Thursday in a bid to strengthen his hold on power in snap elections after seven months in office in which he fought Greece’s creditors for a better bailout deal but had to cave in.

Thomas Wieser, head of the Euro Working Group which prepares decisions for meetings of eurozone finance ministers, took a sanguine view of the move.

“This was really an expected step and for many people a desired step to get to a clearer structure in the Greek government,” he said.