Eurozone bailout fund receives Greek aid request

The developments come as banks in Greece remain closed and are in danger of running out of cash. Her Vice-Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel of the Social Democrats, has also hardened his position.

In Athens, the Greek government said it had committed to seeking its third bailout since 2010, with a revised request “taking into account” the concerns of creditors who have demanded more cuts to pensions and bigger taxes.

Support for embattled Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has come from ex- Cuban President Fidel Castro.

On Sunday, the leaders of all 28 European Union countries will hold a summit where they will ultimately decide Greece’s fate in the euro.

A tourist passes a graffiti in the Plaka tourist district of Athens, Wednesday, July 8, 2015.

“We’re inclined to help Greece but Greece must follow Europe’s rules”, he said in an interview on Spain’s Telecinco evening news program.

“I don’t think any prime minister of Greece could sell all the additional fiscal measures, plus the structural reforms that are needed without some sense of what the debt sustainability looks like”, he said in Washington.

Greece submitted an aid request Wednesday.

“This is really and truly the final wake-up call for Greece and for us, our last chance”, said Tusk, warning that failure “may lead to the bankruptcy of Greece” and cause geopolitical problems for Europe.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will address the European Parliament on Wednesday after European leaders gave his debt-stricken country a final deadline to reach a new bailout deal and avoid crashing out of the euro.

Merkel said Greece would need to spell out – by Thursday – much more comprehensive reforms than those in the last bailout Athens recently walked away from.

Eurozone leaders lost patience at a crisis meeting in Brussels on Tuesday after Tsipras and his new Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos turned up without any concrete plans on paper.

Tsipras said Greece’s troubles predated his arrival in office in January and condemned the “austerity experiment” his country has endured over the past five years that he blames for spiraling unemployment and poverty.

The meetings were unlikely to be decisive, though, after officials said Tsakalotos had not brought written proposals with him.

Tsipras vowed to continue reforms but warned about the austerity-weariness of the public.

Sources said that Theodorakis intervened a number of times on Monday to ensure that the joint statement did not contain any assertions or language that could be used by lenders to refuse any further discussion with the Greek government. Greeks can not take out more than 60 euros ($67) a day from ATMs and are unable to send money overseas, including to pay bills or to stock their businesses, without special permission.

But it’s been exceedingly hard for European leaders to reach a deal with Greece – and negotiations have dragged on for months – because creditors such as Germany don’t want to simply give the nation more money without the promise that it will get its financial house in order.

The head of France’s central bank, Christian Noyer, who told French radio he feared Greece could descend into “chaos” without a deal this week.

Ewald Nowotny, another member of the European Central Bank Governing Council, said any move to increase the availability of emergency liquidity for Greece appeared to be a distant possibility.

With Greece’s future in the European Union and its euro currency at stake, a Monday meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Paris set the tone for the Brussels talks.