The New York Times noted in an editorial that Greece’s lenders, including Germany, “insist that they are defending important principles: a country must pay its debts, and the long-term success of the euro depends on everyone abiding by the rules”. Exhorting European nations to help Greece in their own interests, the paper said: “Yes, Tsipras made some hard-to-keep campaign promises, like increasing the minimum wage, reducing taxes or rehiring public employees, and Varoufakis’s voluble style is not what Brussels is accustomed to. But the Greek leaders have made clear over the past week that they are prepared to keep much of the existing reform programme in place, and they have a mandate to wage a real battle against corruption and tax avoidance.”
Within Greece itself, liberal newspaper Kathimerini was sceptical of the deal and highlighted its “stifling” conditions. “The government did what they had to do to make sure the country does not go bankrupt,” the newspaper wrote in an editorial. “All have to work together for the Greeks, so that everything is put into action without further turbulence and the efforts of recent years are not lost,” it said.
The more centrist Ta Nea newspaper, however, observed that “both sides had made compromises” in arriving at the deal, but expressed hope that the relations of Greece’s ruling Syriza party with the euro group would now become fairly normal, since the “horror of a Greek exit from the euro zone were now over”.
One of the most prominent German newspapers, Die Zeit, was of the opinion that the conflict between the new Greek government and its European partners “has done much damage in the past few weeks”. It said in an editorial: “The destroyed trust is the biggest of all problems. The real enemies of the Greek government do not sit in Brussels or Berlin, but in the financial markets and in its own citizens in Greece.
“The top priority [for the Greek government] must be to restore confidence in the markets and citizens in the ability of the Greek state. Only then a deeper crisis can be prevented. A recovery of the Greek economy is only possible if Greek entrepreneurs and citizens have a clear vision and confidence. Only then will they re-invest, create jobs and strengthen the economy.”
Urging Greece and the Eurogroup to improve the way they negotiate, the Financial Times said in an editorial: “It is a sign of low expectations in the handling of the Greek debt crisis when a deal to keep the country from chaos for four months at the most and only 72 hours at the least is hailed as a great breakthrough.”
Austria’s conservative newspaper Die Presse observed that “the compromise in Brussels was only half the battle” and that the real decision on whether Greece will leave the eurozone had just been deferred by a few months. “Similar to Berlin, Vienna’s treasury is hopeful that Greece will be brought back down to earth,” the paper added in an editorial.
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