Belgium: French President Hollande opposes temporary 'Grexit'

Journalist (in French): "What do you think about a temporary Grexit?" Hollande (in French): "There is no temporary Grexit, there is a Grexit or there is not a Grexit. Or in normal French: there is Greece in the Eurozone or Greece not in the Eurozone, but in that case it's a Europe that retreats and does not progress any longer and I don't want that." France will do everything to keep Greece in the Eurozone, French President Francois Hollande said as he arrived at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels ahead of a Eurozone summit on the Greek debt crisis, Sunday afternoon. "There is Greece in the Eurozone or Greece not in the Eurozone," he said, emphasising that the situation has reached its apex and the "stake" is Europe. The French leader went on to affirm the need of a conception of European "interests" transcending national "interests" in the negotiations. A nine-hour meeting between Eurozone finance ministers was adjourned early Sunday morning, with Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem describing negotiations as "very difficult." A meeting between European Union (EU) heads of state and government has also been cancelled in order for the Eurozone to continue afternoon talks on the ongoing Greek crisis. The negotiations come exactly a week after Greek voters rejected the terms of a bailout in a referendum. Members of the Hellenic Parliament voted to back Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' new bailout plan early Saturday, paving the way for Sunday's negotiations with Brussels. The new Greek proposal offers economic reforms in exchange for a new three-year €53.50 billion ($60 billion) bailout package. Tsipras won the support of 250 out of 300 MPs. The new proposals reportedly include the privatisation of regional airports and seaports; raising the retirement age to 67 by 2022; abolishing solidarity instalments for poorer pensioners before 2020; increasing the number of items with a 23 percent tax rate; cutting military spending by €300 million ($335 million) over the next two years and raising corporation tax to 28 percent.