Greece debt crisis: EU leaders gather for critical summit
On Sunday, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras set out new proposals to try to prevent a default on a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) IMF loan.
One European official said the proposals held plenty of promise.
Greece must repay the loan by the end of June or risk crashing out of the single currency and possibly the EU.
Talks have been in deadlock for five months, with the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB) unwilling to unlock the final €7.2bn tranche of bailout funds until Greece agrees to economic reforms they want to see introduced.
The three creditors must agree to the deal offered by Greece to ensure Monday’s talks have a clear focus.
The head of the European Commission president’s cabinet, Martin Selmayr, said on Twitter that Greece’s latest offer had been received by its creditors.
He said it represented a “good basis for progress” before comparing the discussions on a deal to a “forceps delivery” childbirth.
Prime Minister Tsipras will meet the heads of Greece’s three international creditors at 11:00 (09:00 GMT), ahead of his meeting with the leaders of 18 other eurozone nations.
Mr Tsipras’ offer on Sunday of a reforms package to the leaders of Germany, France and the European Commission is seen by some as a sign the Greek government is willing to make concessions.
The proposals, which Mr Tsipras described as “mutually beneficial”, were adopted at an emergency meeting of the Greek cabinet – though they have yet to be revealed.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has urged both sides to seize a “window of opportunity”.
Earlier on Sunday, Louka Katseli, the head of Greece’s biggest bank, said it would be “insane” not to reach an agreement in Brussels.
The National Bank of Greece chief said that, while the banks were not under immediate threat of running out of money, the situation was serious and, without a deal, would become severe.
However, she said she thought it was unlikely that Greece would be forced to leave the eurozone, saying the cost would be too high for other eurozone nations.
The ECB will also hold a separate meeting on Monday to decide whether to raise the level of emergency funding for Greek banks, after it approved an emergency loan on Friday.
Greek savers have withdrawn billions of euros in recent days, putting Greece’s banking system under intense pressure.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Athens on Sunday evening in support of its left-wing government, which came to power off the back of an anti-austerity promise.
They are angered by austerity measures imposed by Greece’s lenders in the two previous bailouts, which saw wages and pensions slashed and left one in four Greeks unemployed.
Rallies were also staged in Brussels and Amsterdam in solidarity with the people of Greece.
source:bbc
