Greek parliament passes budget measures with overwhelming majority

Greece’s parliament early Thursday voted with an overwhelming majority morning in favor of the budget consolidation and reform measures agreed with its eurozone peers. 229 out of 300 lawmakers voted in favor of the package demanded by creditors to qualify for a third aid program worth up to 86 billion euros. About 40 lawmakers from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza party, though, were among the dissenters.

Looking back at the negotiations which led to the reform package for Greece, cep economist Matthias Kullas told Handelsblatt Global Edition that the fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to be prepared to accept a 'Grexit' gave her the upper hand in the talks. “Germany was not ready to keep Greece in the eurozone at any price,” Kullas said. “And that’s a good thing, because if one does that, then one can be blackmailed.”