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Ev Venizelos Washington Business

The two-day visit of Mr. Venizelos in Washington (25-26 July) comes four days after the decision of the summit in Brussels to conclude a new loan and a new memorandum on the country, but in a tense atmosphere in the internal politics of U.S. in talks for U.S. government debt. The Greek side claims that the preparation of the visit was the beginning of July, immediately after the assumption by Christine Lagarde office at the IMF and the visit was delayed because of Hillary Clinton in Athens.

The Greek representative to the IMF, P. Roumeliotis, speaking in the "CC" said that the purpose of tomorrow's meeting with Christine Lagarde is to "evaluate the results of the summit." The Finance Minister will have the opportunity to meet close to key figures of the international organization ahead of the autumn session of the IMF in Washington. Also, Monday will be put on the table between the implementation of the Greek program of reforms contained in the medium-term program, as the team of inspectors from the IMF is expected again for scrutiny in Athens after August 15.

But Mr. Venizelos rushing in the U.S. for another important reason: to try to reverse the negative climate that exists in the U.S. because Republican senators who opposed the rescue packages to Greece. Opponents of Obama using the "Greek problem" to hit the White House. Two weeks ago, 8 Republicans senators tabled a bill in the Senate to "protect the money of American citizens in Greece gifts from the USA," through the IMF. This is the second attempt by opponents of Obama, who last year tried to stop the assistance to Greece through the IMF, insisting that the U.S. can not assist, through the Fund, European countries with debt ratios above 60% of GDP .

For the above developments has been an urgent recommendation from Washington to go as soon as possible in Washington as Prime Minister G. Papandreou, and the Ev. Venizelos. When this dimension is revealed on Wednesday by the 'E' (20 / 7), Mr. Venizelos said in a statement sought to downplay the issue, noting that "it is very common for senators and members to undertake several legislative initiatives in Congress without them reflect the political position and line of the U.S. government. " This report is considered by diplomats in Washington "unfortunate" because it undermines and devalues ​​a legislative initiative, which is considered an insult to U.S. lawmakers, because it takes into account the separate powers of the U.S. executive, legislative and judicial.

The Greek ambassador to Washington, Vassilis Kaskarelis, got a mandate to arrange contacts with these Republican senators, but until yesterday had not been known if they had booked the appointment for next Tuesday. The agenda of the Minister of Finance included meetings with Democratic leaders of the committees on Foreign Affairs and Banking Affairs, John Kerry and Tim Johnson, respectively, while Mr. Venizelos scheduled to speak at the Peterson Institute on "Greek debt crisis: Challenges and Opportunities".