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Germany vs Greece: Merkel Says 'Nein' to Greek Debt Negotiation

© East News / Yannis BehrakisGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out any prospect of Greece receiving debt relief
German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out any prospect of Greece receiving debt relief - Sputnik International
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out any prospect of Greece receiving debt relief on Saturday, following the recent remarks of newly-elected Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that he plans to renegotiate the country's $270 billion bailout debt with the country's creditors.

Newly appointed Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis attends a hand over ceremony in Athens, January 28, 2015 - Sputnik International
Finance Minister Says Greece Unwilling to Cooperate With Int'l Creditors
MOSCOW, January 31 (Sputnik) — On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected the prospect of debt relief for Athens, according to an AFP report.

"There has already been voluntary debt forgiveness by private creditors, banks have already slashed billions from Greece’s debt," the agency quotes Merkel as saying in an interview with the newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt, which was published Saturday. "I do not envisage fresh debt cancellation."

In an interview with the German television station ARD on Thursday, European Commission Chief Jean-Claude Juncker also said a reduction of Greece’s bailout debts "is not on the radar."

Supporters of the leftist SYRIZA Party celebrating their election victory in Athens, January 25, 2015 - Sputnik International
Cooperation With Russia Will Help Greece Escape Western Domination
On Wednesday, newly-elected Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said during his first cabinet meeting that he plans to renegotiate the country's 240 billion euro ($270 billion) bailout debt with its creditors.

At the start of 2012, Greece restructured its debt in a deal involving private creditors who took "haircuts" or wrote down parts of their holdings. This cut Greece's total debt burden by around 100 billion euros.

But today the country is still weighed with debts, which now total more than 315 billion euros, upwards of 175 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a record for the European Union.

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