Eurozone Ministers Seek Compromise on Greek Debt

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Eurozone finance ministers will gather Friday in Brussels in an attempt to negotiate a common solution on the Greek bailout deal, which expires next week and may leave Athens without EU financial support in March.

The meeting will be the third attempt over the last ten days to clarify the future of Greece, as EU paymaster Germany rejected Athens' recent proposal to extend the deal.

On Thursday, Greek Finance Minster Yanis Varoufakis sent a letter to the German Foreign Ministry, requesting an extension of the current bailout deal and pledging to complete required economic reforms, the Financial Times reported the same day.

However, the leftist Greek government said it was ready to sign an extension only after Athens' proposals on the deal were brought up for discussion, according to the letter, obtained by the media.

Berlin immediately rejected the Greek request.

The eurozone group insists that debt-laden Greece fulfill the current package conditions before sealing a new deal. Greece might face a default over its disagreements with international creditors.

In 2010, the so-called troika of international creditors, comprising the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank, agreed to provide $125 billion to help Greece restore its deteriorating economy. In 2012, another package worth $148 billion was agreed. In exchange for the loans, Athens committed to implement structural reforms and cut spending.

However, the austerity measures triggered popular discontent with governmental policies in the country, and unemployment jumped to over 25 percent.

In late January, a left-wing political party Syriza won snap parliamentary elections in Greece, and a new coalition government was formed. Syriza took a hardline stance against the bailout conditions, vowing to end "national humiliation" and review the deal.