Euclid Tsakalotos

A new sharpening of the bilateral relations between Greece and Germany was caused after Greek media accused the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble of publicly insulting Greek Financial Minister Varoufakis.

Schäuble has been quoted as saying that Varoufakis is ''foolishly naive'' at the discussions on the Greek financial situation in Brussels Wednesday.

Technocrats from Greece?s lenders are expected in Athens on Thursday for talks with government officials, a day after technical discussions about the country?s reform program began in Brussels, where a different set of experts representing creditors met with Greek officials.

By Ian Wishart

Ask Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis about his country?s predicament, and you?re likely to get a very different response from the one echoing around the euro region.

Greek negotiations with its EU partners are taking place in Brussels and Paris with three "institutions" (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) and are no longer focused on a political level but on technical issues.

Representatives of the government and the country?s international creditors are to start ?technical level? talks in Brussels on Wednesday following an agreement thrashed out in Brussels on Monday by eurozone finance ministers, though it remained unclear when, or if, foreign auditors would visit Athens for talks.

Today's Eurogroup meeting is Greece's last chance to avoid default and a possible Grexit, according to certain press reports out of Germany, with one particularly high-pitch article claiming that Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis seeks to "blackmail" the country's European partners by warning of a referendum or snap elections if the latest SYRIZA government plan is not approved.

Greece is to submit seven reforms at the Eurogroup meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday in Brussels. These reforms will provide the framework for a debate that the Greek government hopes will change the negative climate for Greece and the European Central Bank's decisions.

"These guys are amateurs; they do not know what they are doing. We thought they had all their moves prepared, that they had a plan, that they would apply it when they came to power. And on top, one says something and the other something else!"

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