"Maybe the Greek President misheard"

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble replied to the critical comments of the President towards him, stating that that the Eurozone is not setting new conditions for Greece, which as already stated must guarantee the implementation of the program, regardless of the outcome of the elections.

“I do not know any Mr. Schauble who would do such a thing. Perhaps the Greek President misheard something”, stated the German Finance Minister on the Tagesspiegel am Sonntag newspaper, responding to “Who is Mr. Schauble who can ridicule Greece”, by Karolos Papoulias, during his angry reaction to the pressures by Berlin towards our country.

Instead, Mr Schauble stated that all Eurozone ministers have been fighting for the last two years to stabilize the euro "and especially to stabilize Greece." In this context, he argued that the Eurozone has not set new conditions for assistance but as previously stated, it is necessary for Greece to give "sufficient guarantees that apply to those who have agreed, regardless of the outcome of elections."

The German Finance Minister claimed that it still would not make sense to disburse the second loan program in Greece. "If Greece receives all necessary approvals, implements the reforms and clarifies other issues, it will be able to receive the second aid package" he reportedly said.

He added: "An agreement is structured in phases or an agreement is taken step by step, something which would be constructive ... We will decide on the full schedule on Monday, at the meeting of the Eurogroup".

According to Reuters sources Finance Ministries in the Eurozone have been looking for ways to delay all or part of the second aid package to Greece, worth 130 billion euros.

This was followed by the optimism on Friday that Greece will eventually be given all of the new package, after the adoption of the new austerity measures, worth 3.3 billion euros.