EUROZONE

Opinion: Better late than never

What exactly prompted the Greek government to concede is unclear. It doesn't matter. The main thing is that the unnecessary debt dispute is settled, says DW's Bernd Riegert.

Congratulations, Mr. Varoufakis! Finally the Greek finance minister has seen reason. He is able to learn after all. Perhaps it only took a close look at the Greek state's budget and coffers for him to see the facts that were staring him in the face.

Greece still needs the help of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Now, it will have it. With the same conditions as four months ago.

It is a result that could have been possible three weeks ago. Yanis Varoufakis could have saved his petulant public appearances and his row with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. They have still not gained any substantial improvements for Greece.

But they have destroyed trust with other European partners, which will now have to be rebuilt. Because Greece needs the eurogroup after all.

An easy concession

The Greek finance minister was able to extract one quite easy concession from the eurogroup He must now sell this to his constituents as a great victory for Greek self-determination, as a liberation from the yoke of the troika.

DW's Bernd Riegert

The other finance ministers are not greatly concerned about whether he will succeed. The Greek government has ultimately maneuvered itself into itself into a dead end.

The line is drawn. Now it must be about drawing up a sustainable program for Greece in the next four months to get Greece's books back in order, to jump start the economy and deal with social injustice.

If Greece's leftist-led coalition displays that it's prepared to cooperate more reasonably, then neither the eurogroup, the IMF nor European Central Bank will want to turn off the tap. The common goal is now to stabilize Greece and keep the eurozone community together in the currency union. At whatever price. And it will still cost a lot. Varoufakis himself had acknowledged in Brussels that Greece has a cash flow problem, and more support is needed in the coming months.

The party is over

With tax revenues having slumped and economic growth paralyzed, the new government is not entirely innocent, having unsettled investors and companies.

The election campaign is now finally over. The victory party is over, too. The new government learnt that it must recognize reality and, at the final minute under strong pressure from Berlin and Brussels, it has made a change of course. That is better for Greece and for Europe. Congratulations, Mr. Varoufakis.