Greek PM released after eye surgery

25 Jun 2012, 11:00 pm   -   Source: AAP
Greece's new PM and finance minister will both miss a key EU summit this week for health reasons. (AAP)

Greece's new PM and finance minister will both miss a key EU summit this week for health reasons. (AAP)

Greece's new prime minister, Antonis Samaras, is out of hospital, but he will not attend an EU summit in Brussels that is critical for his country.

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Greece's new prime minister has been released from hospital after eye surgery, but he will not attend a European Union summit in Brussels.

The meeting will be critical for Greece, coming just a week after its new coalition government was formed following months of political turmoil and two inconclusive national elections.

Antonis Samaras underwent an operation to repair a detached retina on Saturday morning, and his doctors have said he will have to remain at home for several days to recover, although he can accept visits.

The country's incoming finance minister, Vassilis Rapanos, meanwhile, was still in hospital after being admitted on Friday following a collapse hours before he was due to be sworn in to office.

Samaras has appointed Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos to lead the Greek delegation at the June 28-29 summit.

Samaras's government, comprised of his New Democracy conservatives, their long-time socialist rivals PASOK and the small Democratic Left party, has issued a policy statement outlining changes it would like to make to the terms of its international bailout agreement with other EU countries and the International Monetary Fund.

The changes include repealing certain tax increases, freezing public sector layoffs and extending by two years the mid-2014 deadline for tough austerity measures.

The government would have to find other ways to make savings. Its election pledges to renegotiate some terms of the bailout would depend on how it was viewed by Greece's international creditors.

Germany, the largest single creditor, has repeatedly said Athens must stick to delivering on the spending cuts it has promised in return for billions of euros in rescue loans. Measures taken so far include slashing public spending, cutting salaries and pensions and increasing taxes across the board.

Speaking in Luxembourg on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: "We cannot allow everything to be negotiated again. We can also not allow discounts to be granted. What has been decided upon stands."

In preparation for the summit, Avramopoulos met on Monday with outgoing Finance Minister Giorgos Zanias - who still holds the official title as Rapanos has not been officially sworn in.

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