Tue, 23 Jun, 2015 12:04:04 AM Greece’s loan negotiations to take time: Stubb FTimes-STT Report, June 23  Finland's Prime Minister Juha Sipilä arrives for arrives for an emergency Eurogroup finance ministers' meeting on Greece at the European Council in Brussels, on June 22, 2015. Photo AFP-LEHTIKUVA. Prime Minister Juha Sipilä on Monday said that he does not believe that a solution to Greece's loan situation is likely to be decided by this week.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister Alexander Stubb predicted that the process would continue for several days.
"We are still a ways away from a civil agreement at the moment," said Sipilä while being ushered from a large committee to the airport.
The Prime Minister was on his way to the meeting of the heads of European countries held on Monday night.
“Will gather this (Monday) evening ... I hope that the issue will be decided upon by Thursday or Friday at the latest,” said the Prime Minister, adding, “ Maybe now it's good to hear what's going on at the moment, what options are on the table, and to discuss them openly."
Finland's position remains unchanged, according to Sipilä. Greece must carry out the agreed measures, and only then can changes be discussed.
Sipilä said he has no information about the content of Greece's new paper. "We'll see this (Monday) evening."
Greece's current support program finishes at the end of this month.
The Finance Minister Alexander Stubb also did not expect any breakthrough in Greek negotiations on Monday.
In Stubb's opinion, hopes are not high. According to him, there are no decent proposal on the table at Monday tonight's emergency meeting.
"My guess is that the process will continue for several days," said Stubb in Brussels upon arrival at a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers.
Finance Minister Alexander Stubb. File Photo Lehtikuva. According to Stubb, lenders have not had enough time to evaluate Greece's latest proposal on the conditions and terms of the loans.
"The first proposal came in at 1 am. The next came at 7 am, stating that the first proposal was wrong."
Stubb expressed his disappointment with the process, where reconciliations have been left to the last minute, and the ministers must be flown to Brussels without any proper preparation.
According to Stubb, the latest Greek proposals on structural reforms are weak.
Stubb predicted that the euro-zone finance ministers will reconvene in the next few days.
Before they meet again, the Greek proposal must be carefully judged at official levels, that is, among the lenders representing the Troika. The Troika consists of the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem anticipated that a solution will not be found today, since the latest Greek proposals are incomplete and came too late.
The high-level emergency meeting was convened because the Greek support program will finish at the end of this month, and a future loan scheme has not been agreed upon. Unless new terms for an agreement are hammered out, bankruptcy threatens Greece.
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