The IMF expects a “real fix” for Greece that puts its debt on a sustainable path as quickly as possible,  Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund Managing Director said.

Eurozone finance ministers suggested Greece should be given until 2022 to lower its debt to GDP ratio to 120% but International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde insisted the existing target of 2020 should remain, according to Reuters.

Eurogroup and IMF disagree over whether Eurozone governments need to write off some of Greece’s debt to them to make it manageable. IMF officials have pressed for such a “haircut” while Germany, the biggest contributor to Eurozone bailout funds, has vehemently rejected it as illegal. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters on Tuesday that the 2020 deadline was “a little too ambitious”. “There’s a debate about a haircut for official creditors. On that I will say, and most countries have said so in the past few weeks, that that’s legally not possible,” he added.

Meanwhile, european partners seem to be headed toward the solution of merging the tranches claimed by Greece in a super-tranche of more than EUR 44 billion, a solution that is promoted by Germany and supported by France, which is pressing for an immediate answer to the Greek crisis, protothema.gr writes.

“Greece must receive the remaining three tranches when all issues are resolved,” German Finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said, insisting on the necessity of “surveillance” in the form of an “essential control mechanism.” He seemed to attach the disbursement of any amount, to resolving all outstanding issues in the Greek program and the commitments of Greece.

But peoples often pass through fire, iron and blood. The dead in Syria are so many, that citizens of the West keep wondering why NATO does not interfere, or why the U.S. continues to maintain a wait-and-see stance. Why haven’t they charged ahead, as they did recently in Libya? And is there more in the role of the Security Council besides empty resolutions? Usually foreign powers intervene in cases of energy resources, arms deals, or in order to open markets or serve geopolitical interests. Which one is relevant in the case of Syria? Half words coming from all directions! However, the idea of an external intervention ultimately exceeds minced words, as China and Russia refuse to sign the removal of the Assad regime. Particularly Moscow chooses to sell its weapons (Russian guns kill dissidents and their families) and at the same strengthens its naval base on Syrian territory. Besides, the Arab Spring last year has partly ousted the country from the geopolitical game. How could, therefore, Russia abandon its territorial takes?

It is said that Syria and its neighbors are the Balkans of the 21st century and Damascus the NATO-bombed Kosovo. But is this right? The US, despite what is said as regards weapons trafficking through Turkey and Saudi Arabia to the Syrian opposition, will hardly earn the necessary legitimacy by international public opinion to intervene. The lies of the Bush administration in the invasion of Iraq remain in the news agenda, leading Obama to move cautiously, taking into account besides the election period, two additional factors: first, the alliance of Damascus with Tehran, which is waiting patiently for Israel’s wrong move and, second, the stance of Turkey that appears determined to reinforce its position as a leading regional power.

With ten thousand years of history, Syria is one of the most flammable parts of the world, reminding us, Greeks, who appear insulted by Lagarde’s statements, that a single sparkle could put the world ablaze. And then what?

Published in Greek in Kathimerini, 7.6.2012

“There is still a lot of work to be done,” the IMF chief said of Greece, while praising interim Prime Minister Lucas Papademos for his work since November, media report.

According to an IMF transcript, Lagarde said: “We spent in the last six months an inordinate amount of time on Greek issues, on the Greek new programme, and in discussions with the Greek authorities. A lot has happened in Greece… Many things: change of government, change of approach by many of the partners on the ground, and clearly a new Prime Minister who is taking his task very seriously. A lot has happened in terms of implementation, because all the preconditions that we had identified, together with the other members of the troika, were implemented. Laws were passed.”

Lagarde stressed: “implement, implement, implement, paying tribute to the Greek people who share and bear the burden and make the sacrifices that we know of. I would call on those that are not sharing that burden that are not bearing it, to actually do so. If there is one area where more and better work needs to be done, it is in revenue collection, in the tax collection efforts, where more work needs to be done.”