Elmau Castle, Germany--European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Sunday that Athens had so far failed to provide a list of alternative reforms, after Greece's premier rejected its creditors' demands as absurd.
"Alexis Tsipras, my friend, had promised that by Thursday evening, he would present a second alternative proposal... I have never received this alternative proposal," said Juncker.
Greece's radical-left government and its creditors -- the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and European Central Bank -- have been negotiating for five months over unlocking 7.2 billion euros (US$8 billion) in rescue funds that Athens desperately needs.
With the clock ticking down to debt servicing payments totalling 1.6 billion euros in three weeks, the creditors this week put a proposal to Greece that was hammered out without Athens at a meeting in Berlin.
Greek premier Tsipras said early on Thursday there were "points that no one would consider as a base for discussion" and that Greece's own reform plan remained "the only realistic plan on the table".
He told parliament a day later that "it is clear that the Greek government cannot under any circumstances consent to absurd proposals."
In turn Juncker on Saturday spurned Tsipras's request for a telephone conversation, with a spokesman reportedly saying that there was "nothing to discuss" given the lack of progress.
AFP
