Luxembourg---The EU called an emergency eurozone summit next week after Greek debt talks ended Thursday without a deal, sparking warnings of an "accident" that could push Athens out of the euro if there is no breakthrough by the end of the month.
Finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg failed to break the five-month-old standoff between the anti-austerity government in Athens and its EU-IMF creditors, who have demanded tough reforms.
Greece has until the end of June to agree a reform deal in order to secure the remaining portion of an international bailout, which it needs to avoid defaulting on a 1.6-billion-euro IMF debt payment.
"It is still possible to find an agreement and extend the current programme before the end of the month but the ball is clearly in the Greek court to seize that last opportunity," a clearly discouraged Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijssebloem told a news conference.
With time running out, EU President Donald Tusk quickly announced an emergency summit of the leaders of the 19 eurozone countries on Monday in Brussels, ahead of a full EU summit next Thursday.
"It is time to urgently discuss the situation of Greece at the highest political level," Tusk said.
In Athens, 6,000 people gathered in front of parliament to call for Greece to stay in the euro, police said, although it was smaller than an anti-austerity protest in the capital on Wednesday.
- Greek 'accident' warning -
But Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis insisted that he had put fresh proposals on the table, even as he insisted Athens would not budge on its red lines of reforms to pensions and VAT.
"We are dangerously close to a state of mind which accepts an accident. I told my colleagues not to accept such thinking," the motorbike-riding former economist said when asked about the possibility of Greece leaving the euro.
Varoufakis added that there had been "not a single comment" from his eurozone peers when he presented his new plans.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was elected in January on a promise to end five years of austerity under two international bailouts since 2010, which Athens took to repay debts incurred by years of overspending including on hosting the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The threat of a Greek default escalated dramatically when International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde ruled out any extension of the June 30 deadline for Greece to pay its debts.
AFP
