Greece lacks negotiating leverage

As part of its austerity measures the Greek government took further steps on Thursday toward reforming its pension system. Greece is forced to accept the dictates of the IMF, writes the left-liberal daily To Vima: "The pension thriller has shown very drastically just how bad Greece's position is. We have little or no negotiating leverage to try to hold on to the benefits we received in the past. Struggles such as the current one over how high pensions will be ... are condemned to failure in advance. ... The unfortunate fact is that the framework agreed upon with our EU partners and the IMF for the rescue of the Greek economy is strictly binding and practically insurmountable. Precisely in this phase where the success of the harsh austerity programme cannot yet be assessed, we have no room for negotiation."

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