On Monday, leaders of the Eurozone countries unanimously agreed to a three-year, 86 billion euro bailout to shore up the Greek economy in exchange for tough reforms to the country’s pension system, VAT and labor laws.
European Council President Donald Tusk said everything was ready to launch the European Stability Mechanism for Greece, whose government now faces the big challenge of getting the parliament to pass the conditions for bailout in a vote scheduled for Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, the Civil Servants’ Confederation trade union wants the government to withdraw its signature from the bailout agreement with the Eurozone to live up to the nation’s mandate given to it in the January 25 elections and the July 5 referendum.
Tsipras, locked in fraught negotiations with EU leaders in Brussels until Monday morning, indicated that he would carry the Athens parliament, despite some defections, in a vote on the package by Thursday morning.