EU chief rebukes Greece, demands swift debt plan

A top European Union official insisted Sunday that Greece's creditors didn't deliver a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum to end the standoff over Greece's international bailout.

The comments from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker came after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Parliament on Friday that the creditors' proposals for a deal on Greek debt were "a negative surprise" and termed the proposal "irrational."

Athens, which faces pressure to agree to painful deficit-cutting measures, wants a deal that would lighten its crushing debt load. But Tsipras said Greece could not accept last week's proposal from the so-called "institutions" — the EU's Executive Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

Juncker told reporters ahead of the Group of Seven summit Sunday, however, that the latest offer made clear where there was room for negotiation.

He said Tsipras "was presenting the proposal of the institutions as a leave-or-take offer. That was not the case."

It was only the latest back-and-forth in six months of difficult negotiations since Tsipras' Syriza party won Greece's national election and came into office vowing to do away with the tough conditions creditors imposed in return for two bailouts worth 240 billion euros.

Juncker, often regarded as favoring more leniency with Greece, displayed some impatience with Tsipras several times during the news conference. He said the prime minister had promised him additional Greek proposals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but they had not arrived.

Juncker said he had ruled out Greece leaving the 19-nation eurozone, but that no one "could pull a rabbit out of a hat" and come up with a deal.

Greece is running dangerously low on money. It was scheduled to make a $340 million payment to the IMF on Friday, but instead took the option of bundling four payments due this month into one installment due at the month's end.

A default on its debts could eventually lead to worsening turmoil and Greece leaving the shared euro currency so it can print its own currency to cover its bills.

Opinion polls show three-quarters of Greeks want to stay in the eurozone and a majority want the government to reach a deal with the lenders even if that means more sacrifices.

Wire services