by Our Foreign Desk

Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem said yesterday that Greece would make proposals to use the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund as early as today.

Mr Dijsselbloem was speaking after the first meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels since Greek voters gave an overwhelming No to their last offer in Sunday’s referendum.

Contrary to pundits’ predictions, newly appointed Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos did not present new proposals for a deal on extending Greece’s banking bailout programme.

EU and International Monetary Fund creditors are demanding further austerity measures in return for an extension of credit, on top of those which have crippled the Greek economy since 2010 and deepened the country’s debt crisis.

Greek Prime Minsister Alexis Tsipras appointed Mr Tsakalotos on Monday after Yanis Varoufakis, who had repeatedly clashed with Mr Dijsselbloem, resigned in response to pressure from the eurogroup.

Hopes of an immediate lifeline from the Brics group of nations meeting in Russia this week faded when Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukaev said the idea of providing financial help to a non-Brics member was “premature and, it seems to me, not current.”

But former Cuban president Fidel Castro joined the chorus of support for Greece from developing nations in an article published by national newspapers yesterday.

“Your country, especially your courage in the current moment, awakens admiration among the Latin American and Caribbean peoples of this hemisphere upon seeing how Greece, facing external aggressions, defends its identity and culture,” Mr Castro wrote.