Greece’s Samaras Begins Work on a Coalition
Rachel Donadio Liz Alderman
Antonis Samaras, the leader of the party that placed first in Greek parliamentary elections, began talks on Monday to form a coalition government aimed at keeping Greece in the euro zone.
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ATHENS — Antonis Samaras, the leader of the center-right party that placed first in Greek parliamentary elections, began talks on Monday to form a coalition government aimed at keeping Greece in the euro zone and renegotiating its loan agreement with the foreign creditors keeping the country afloat.

But even as European leaders expressed relief at the outcome of the election, it was not clear how far Germany and the rest of Europe were prepared to go to ease the terms of Greece’s bailout agreement — or whether the results of the vote would improve life for Greece’s fast-imploding middle class or stem a deepening political divide between right and left.

At the same time, attention quickly shifted to Spain, where market traders pushed up rates on its long-term bonds in an apparent expression of little confidence that the election in Greece would resolve many of Europe’s larger problems.

In a televised statement after meeting with his Socialist counterpart, Evangelos Venizelos, Mr. Samaras said the two had agreed on the need to put their differences aside in a country with no strong tradition of coalition rule and form a governing bloc, something they were unable to achieve in elections in early May that yielded largely the same outcome.

“We agreed that a government has to be formed within this exploratory mandate,” which ends on Thursday, Mr. Samaras said. “We will talk again.”

Mr. Samaras, whose party placed first but does not have enough seats to form a government on its own, also met with the leaders of two smaller parties: Independent Greeks on the right, whose leader appeared unlikely to join a coalition, and Democratic Left, whose leader may be open to joining one.

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