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WORLD NEWS A9
Saturday 8 April 2017
Greek bailout talks make major breakthrough on reforms
Supporters of the communist-affiliated union PAME chant slogans during an anti-austerity rally in take in order to get the government will have to
Athens, Friday, April 7, 2017. Greece and its international creditors took a big step Friday toward rescue money due from its push through some further
an agreement that will ensure the country gets the money it needs to avoid a potential bank- most recent international tough measures for the
ruptcy this summer but which could spell more pain for austerity-weary Greeks. rescue. years ahead — on top of
The big blocks have now all those enacted over the
(AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) been sorted out and that past seven years.
should allow us to speed Though Greek Finance
up and go for the final Minister Euclid Tsakalotos
stretch,” Jeroen Dijssel- said agreement had been
bloem told reporters follow- reached on the basic is-
ing a meeting of the euro- sues that would allow bail-
zone’s 19 finance ministers out inspectors to return to
in the Maltese capital of Athens to iron out remain-
Valletta. ing issues, he warned of
Once a broad agree- more hardship ahead for
ment is reached in coming austerity-weary Greeks.
weeks, Dijsselbloem said “There are things that will
the eurozone will come not satisfy us, and there are
back to issues related to things that satisfy us,” he
Greece’s stringent medi- said.
um-term budget targets “It is in the nature of every
and the country’s debts — agreement for there to be
key conditions of the Greek compromises and things
government. that will upset not generally
However, in return for get- the negotiating team but
ting agreement on those the Greek people.”
conditions, the Greek
RAF CASERT a potential bankruptcy this
ELENA BECATOROS summer but which could
Associated Press spell more pain for austeri-
BRUSSELS (AP) — Greece ty-weary Greeks.
and its international credi- For months, the bailout dis-
tors took a big step Friday cussions have stalled amid
toward an agreement that disagreements over pen-
will ensure the country gets sion, tax and labor market
the money it needs to avoid reforms that Greece should
AP: Kosovo president postpones
approval of army transformation
LLAZAR SEMINI that “strategic internation-
Associated Press
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — al partners” would assist in
Kosovo’s president has
bowed to international urging ethnic monitories,
pressure and agreed to
postpone the transforma- including Serbs, to agree to
tion of the nation’s security
force into a regular army. constitutional changes.
NATO and the United
States had warned they “NATO member countries
would scale back military
cooperation with Kosovo and the U.S.A. still believe
if the government passed
the law without amending that Republic of Kosovo’s
the constitution.
The Western military al- institutions can and should
liance has helped train
Kosovo’s lightly armed se- create the FAK (Kosovo
curity force.
Hashim Thaci said Friday Armed Forces) through
constitutional amend-
ments,” Thaci said in a let-
ter sent to Parliament.
“Recently our international
strategic partners have
confirmed their readiness
to assist our institutions ...
to secure support from all
Kosovo minorities, especial-
ly the Serb one,” he said.
