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Greek President cancels Berlin visit

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Greek President cancels Berlin visit
Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos(l) with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Photo: DPA

Prokopis Pavlopoulos, President of Greece, has cancelled plans to visit Berlin next Tuesday, German media reported on Thursday.

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Pavlopoulos was due to meet with German President Joachim Gauck in the German capital, but Gauck's office confirmed on Thursday that he would no longer be coming, the Berliner Morgenpost reported.

The news immediately sparked media speculation that Pavlopoulos' cancellation was linked to the looming bankruptcy of his country.

Greeks will go to the ballots on the weekend for a referendum called by the left-wing Syriza government on whether to accept a tough bailout deal linked to swingeing austerity measures demanded by the country's European creditors.

Last-minute attempts by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to negotiate a bailout deal before the referendum hit a brick wall on Wednesday after the country failed to meet a payment on its outstanding loans from the IMF on Tuesday night.

German politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, have said that the Greek position remains too confused for them to open negotiations about a new bailout programme.

But the government has refused to cancel the referendum - on a deal which its creditors say is no longer valid - and it is now widely seen as a vote on the country's membership of the euro single currency itself.

Pavlopolous has made comments in the past in favour of Greece remaining of the eurozone.

SEE ALSO: Greek offer 'no basis for discussion': Schäuble

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