Greece’s new cabinet members sworn in
Greece’s new cabinet members have been sworn in following a reshuffle that was carried out to replace anti-austerity ministers.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras earlier sacked ten members of his team, including Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis and two deputy ministers, who had refused to back negotiations for a tough new bailout deal.
For the swearing-in ceremony, presided over by President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, some ministers chose a traditional religious ritual and some belonging to the ruling leftist Syriza Party opted for the civic version.
Greece’s acceptance of the tough austerity measures dictated by the international creditors to help Athens stay in the European Union’s single currency zone has been widely cheered by the EU leaders.
The new cabinet is now expected to begin fresh negotiations with the international creditors and Greece’s eurozone partners for a third bailout package worth 86 billion euros (93.65 billion dollars).
Meanwhile, European finance ministers have agreed on an immediate seven billion euros in bridging funds from an EU-wide emergency fund, which the European Council has approved and now has the go-ahead from all non-euro states.
In another development, the European Central Bank (ECB) has increased the emergency funding for Greek banks by 905 million euros for one week.
Greece will now be able to repay its debts to two of its international creditors, namely the ECB and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), due on Monday.
Experts say the emergency funding could allow some Greek banks to reopen on Monday following weeks of closure.
The head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, says he expects the final negotiations for the third bailout to take four weeks.
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