Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is due in Brussels today, where he is to meet with the head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, European Parliament President Martin Schulz and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. Samaras is expected to use his trip to the heart of the European Union as an opportunity to stress to EU leaders that apart from the economic implications, Greece cannot afford to adopt new austerity measures because of the fragile political and social situation.
Officially, Athens insists that the purpose of Samaras’s visit to Brussels is not to discuss a likely third bailout package for Greece but the six-month rotating EU presidency, which the country is due to assume in January. However, the Prime Minister’s meeting on Monday in Athens with Greece’s representative on the European Commission, Maria Damanaki, suggested he was being briefed on the mood in Brussels.
Samaras will also meet EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia in Brussels, with the fate of three state companies, Larco, ELVO and EAS, still undecided.
The prime minister is also planning to meet International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde when he travels to the USA again, toward the end of this month.
