Athens - In a rare piece of good news for Greek leaders, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) confirmed on Tuesday that it has been forced to throw the cash-strapped country a half-billion euro lifeline.
After a week in which Eurogroup of finance ministers and the European Central Bank turned the screws on Athens, the €555m will give its radical new government a brief respite from its creditors.
In the increasingly fraught battle of wills with Brussels and Berlin, the decision is a rare victory for Athens with economist Edward Hugh tweeting: "Eurogroup just blinked."