Samaras in Brussels today for the EU summit

Having closed the agreement of the Greek government with the troika, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will be in Brussels today for the EU summit where he will have meetings with his counterparts.

The Greek government welcomes the formal announcement by the European Central Bank, the European Commission, the IMF and the statements of European officials as Olli Rehn.

The next step for the government is the filing of the multi-bill to be approved in parliament. This was discussed yesterday by Samaras and Venizelos to coordinate their movements and overcome any responses by MPs on the individual points agreement. The two leaders agreed to form a committee of MPS from both parties, which will determine the social criteria for the distribution of the surplus to weakest.

So far it has been decided that two draft laws will be tabled in parliament, one for the recapitalization of banks and another that includes the agreement with the troika. On the issue of banks, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras updated former PM George Papandreou yesterday, who had objected to the re-privatization of banks that were strengthened by the state at low cost.

 The government has not yet decided whether the draft bill containing the agreement with the troika that will be filed after March 25 will be in one article or more. Should it contain more than one articles one cannot exclude any down voting against individual settings from MPs of the coalition. If it comes in one article there will be criticism about blackmailing of MPs in order to pass the agreement.

EU Summit

Samaras will participate today and tomorrow in the summit of the European Union carried out mainly for the crisis in Ukraine. The leaders of the 27 countries will discuss measures against Russia after the annexation of the Crimea, which they do not recognize. Samaras has already taken a position against any division of any country in creating pretexts of a cold war climate. He is firmly in favor of a diplomatic solution on the issue and opposes any moves that would escalate the crisis.