Obama Calls for Lenders’ Flexibility in Greece Crisis

In an attempt to prevent the further deterioration of Greece’s economic situation, US President Barack Obama has upped his contacts with EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron, calling on all parties involved to show flexibility and work out a solution.

“As I think most people are aware there has been an ongoing crisis in Greece, dating back to 2009-2010. And it’s something that I’ve been deeply involved with periodically, working with our European partners. It is an issue of substantial concern,” Mr Obama said during a White House news conference on Tuesday, with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, hours before Greece missed a 1.5 billion euro debt payment to the International Monetary Fund.

“It is an issue primarily of concern to Europe. Essentially what you have here is a country that… has gone through some very difficult economic times, needs to find a path towards growth and a path to stay in the eurozone. And what we’ve been encouraging both the Greek government and our European partners to do is to continue to negotiate and find a pathway towards a resolution,” the US president said.

According to the New York Times, US officials are concerned primarily about Greece’s role in NATO, “and its economic estrangement from other members of the alliance, which operates by consensus, has the potential to complicate American foreign policy at a time of rising tensions with Russia and turmoil in the Middle East”.

In the meantime, the US embassy issued a security message on Sunday, for American citizens living or traveling in Greece, advising them to carry cash, avoid demonstrations and maintain a high level of security.