EU releases latest draft proposals in Greece talks

Brussels, June 29: The European Union (EU) on Sunday afternoon released the latest draft proposals offered to Greece but were later rejected by the Greek government, following Greek parliament's approval of a referendum on them to be held next week.

"In the interest of transparency and for the information of the Greek people, the European Commission is publishing the latest proposals agreed among the three institutions," EU's executive body European Commission said in a statement.

The proposals have taken into account the Greek authorities' proposals of June 8, 14, 22 and 25, as well as talks at political and technical level throughout the week, Xinhua reported citing the statement.

The proposals were provided to the Greek government on Friday, but the government "unilaterally" ended talks, according to the statement.

Late Friday night, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tripras called the proposals "blackmail" and vowed a refusal to the austerity measures. He called for a popular vote on the proposals on July 5.

On Saturday, the Eurogroup financial ministers held an emergency meeting but the Greek Financial Minister Yanis Varoufakis decided to leave midway. The other 18 ministers later accused Athens of breaking off negotiations and giving negative response to the proposals.

It was not the institutions but the Greek government that walks away from talks, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Saturday.

The group also rejected Greece's request for an extension for July's referendum, saying "the current financial assistance arrangement with Greece will expire on June 30".

The Greek parliament approved the referendum in Athens late Saturday night.

The draft proposals outlined measures the creditors have urged Greece to adopt on, among others, fiscal policy, reform on pension, tax and value-added tax.

IANS