Schaeuble says meeting will be ‘tough’

Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, warned that that Saturday's meeting of the eurozone's 19 finance ministers over Greece's bailout request was going to be tough.

Schaeuble, who has taken a hard line on Greece over recent months, says the Greek government will have to do a lot more than just say it wants to reform if it's going to get the three-year bailout it requested for earlier this week.

"We will definitely not be able to rely on promises," he said when arriving at the talks in Brussels.

Schaeuble put the blame for the current crisis firmly on the shoulders of the radical left SYRIZA government that was elected in January. The "hopeful" situation regarding Greece at the end of last year has been "destroyed by the last months," he said.

Schaeuble said Saturday's discussions would be "extraordinarily difficult."

[AP]