BRUSSELS — Eurozone finance ministers agreed on Monday to begin negotiations in Athens as soon as next week over much-needed overhauls
in exchange for bailout payments, with Greece appearing to win a reprieve from the crippling austerity that it has faced for years.
Representatives of Greece’s main creditors will “go back to Athens in the very short term,” Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the
president of the Eurogroup, which brings together the finance ministers of the 19-nation eurozone, said on Monday.
But it is a positive sign ahead of a meeting this week between Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany
and Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, who have taken contrasting positions on debt relief toward Athens.
But with elections due in France, Germany and the Netherlands this year, the country’s
bailout is threatening to become a major political issue across the region.
Eurozone Agrees to Greece Talks in Exchange for Bailout Payments -
By JAMES KANTER and NIKI KITSANTONISFEB.