Greek PM Alexis Tsipras is meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the informal EU Summit meeting in Malta, Friday. The meeting between the two leaders started at 10.45am with the Greek PM seeking ways to position himself in a better bargaining position against the harsh demands of the current German government. The Greek side believes that even if it is compelled to implement more austerity measures now proposed by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, in order to close the second review, polls in Germany show a shift in public opinion in favour of the social democrats of the SPD party who have a different policy on the Greekm matter from Mrs. Merkel’s party. Mr. Tsipras is also expected to meet with European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker and French President Francois Hollande. February 6 is another crucial date in the Greek matter, as the IMF board is scheduled to decide on whether it will continue backing the Greek program. The Greek government hopes to incorporate any agreement at the current stage in a broader framework that would factor in a potential change in the balance of political power in Europe in the near future. However, procrastinating too long and investing in a political change in Europe entails the risk of the current program’s targets going off course, including Greece entering into the ECB quantitative easing plan.