Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Die Welt- Merkel Now Says Saturday Will Be The Day for Greek Decision

They negotiated over ten hours in Brussels. It was a frustration summit. For two hours, took the EU Heads of State or Government alone the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in the pliers. They pushed and threatened. And they put him in debt dispute with the bankrupt Greece indirectly an ultimatum: D-Day is supposed to be the coming Saturday.

Everything possible must be done to that at the meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Saturday an agreement would be found, said Chancellor Angela Merkel at 2.37 clock in the night of Friday to journalists. "The meeting of the Euro Group will have a crucial importance," said Merkel, who was wearing a lilac blazer that evening. "This formulation is betting that the time is very, very spacious enough," added the Chancellor. It now go to the completion of the current aid program for Greece: "It is impossible to find any of these new money, which is not yet there."

Even EU Council President Donald Tusk said that EU governments expected that the Euro Group "this process concludes, at their meeting on Saturday". The Greek debt drama running order at the weekend after months of tough negotiations addition to its final climax. If it does not come to an agreement, there will be "B Plan" according to diplomats work on a.

The IMF granted no respite

Time is pressing. Next Tuesday the latest European utility runs with a total of 7.2 billion euros for Greece. On this date, the country must also be around 1.6 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to repay that it has not. The IMF reiterated Greece get no respite for paying up. Athens needs so much money.

Nevertheless, the ideas between Athens and Brussels gape still far apart. "There is still a wide gap with the Greek government," said the head of the euro zone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Contentious issues are mainly the required pension cuts and tax reform. Moreover, Greece continues to call for a debt relief - in any form whatsoever.

How closed the front of Europeans towards Greece will really be the end, however, is unclear. "There are things that I do not share," said Austria's Social Democratic Chancellor Werner Faymann. "When people have no health insurance to 40 percent, because they are already so many out of work, and then increasing the VAT on medicines - for such a proposal, I'm not," he said.

The refugee issue caused controversy

But Greece was not the only bone of contention in this balmy summer night in Brussels. At dinner, about to 21 clock, there were some violent clashes between the "bosses" on refugee policy. On the table lay a more ambitious proposal from the European Commission: Against the background of increasing numbers of refugees are to be allocated to the EU countries within two years of the fixed odds 40,000 refugees from Syria and Eritrea. Germany is scheduled to start by 8763 migrants or nearly 22 percent for the largest share. The Federal Government, Italy and Austria welcome the plans, many Eastern European countries, but also countries such as Portugal and Spain, are against mandatory quotas.

This aroused especially the indignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. He said by diplomats information: "If this is your idea of Europe, then you can keep it." Then he called in the round of government: "Shows either solidarity or not wasted our time."

A conflict occurred according to data from EU circles between EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and the chairman of the 28 heads of government, Tusk. Both had quarreled on questions of law, it said.

Merkel also chimed in to the debate. She struggled, as Renzi and Juncker, for mandatory quotas. It was in vain, the Chancellor could not prevail. At the end of this summit was only a lean compromise: Countries agreed to accept refugees on a voluntary basis. After all, now want to join in all 28 EU countries. But clearly is therefore likely to be: The target number of 40,000 resettled refugees will probably not be achieved.

Merkel spoke in the refugee question of "lively discussions". They described the refugees as "biggest challenge that I have seen in my tenure." That was the last sentence of the press conference, the morning ended around 3 clock to birdsong.