Greece will approve EU loan package by year

Greece must by the end of the year approve the bailout package presented by the European Union in October, Greece's new Prime Minister Lucas Papadimos said on Monday, promising to provide written guarantees that Athens would stick by the terms of the deal. Clearing the way for the 8 billion euro sixth tranche of the first loan package from the EU was the first priority for the new Greek government, he said. The second priority would be completion of talks with creditors on the new loan program, adopted on 26-27 October, which includes a write-down of 50 percent of Greece's debt in exchange for massive spending cuts. Greece must present written guarantees that it will comply with the EU’s demands for it to comply with the terms of the bailout package, Papadimos said. “This is our obligation before other nations for the solidarity which they show to us,” he said. Greece’s partners have clearly shown that continued financing for Greece was conditional on Athens fulfilling its obligations, he said. Earlier on Monday, the leader of Greece's center-right opposition Antonis Samaras said his New Democracy party would not vote for any new austerity plan demanded by international lenders before they provide more financial aid to Athens. Papadimos took up office last weekend following the resignation of former Prime Minister George Papandreou. He stepped down after he called for a referendum on further domestic spending cuts last week, but later backtracked on the idea amid protest from Brussels.