Greece Nears a State of Emergency

The European Union must prepare for Greece to collapse into a state of emergency, Germany’s European Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, said Monday. EU officials have been preparing plans to ensure the electricity stays on, hospitals get medical supplies, and the police get paid in case the Greek economy collapses, he said.

Greece needs a bailout by the end of the month to avoid bankruptcy. However, any deal will probably have to be agreed before this time so that the German parliament has time to approve it. Morgan Stanley said that a meeting of eurozone finance ministers scheduled for Thursday will be “a make-or-break moment.” One of their analysts said, “The Greek saga is finally reaching its climax, we think.”

Faced with this imminent deadline, Greece’s leaders have said that they will not change their position. Instead Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused European leaders of having “political motives” and said that they are forcing a crisis in order to bring down his government.