THE European Union (EU) offered Greece funds Friday to deal with what it called a “humanitarian crisis” after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vowed to clarify reform pledges demanded by the country’s creditors.

    After crisis talks between Tsipras and European leaders, EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said he was making available 2 billion euros (US$2.16 billion) in unused EU development funds to Greece.

    Tension has mounted between Athens and Brussels since radical leftist Tsipras was elected in January promising to cut back on five years of austerity and renegotiate Greece’s debt arrangements.

    Greece has been lobbying for Brussels to release the last tranche of its EU-IMF bailout to help it make payments to creditors and avoid bankruptcy and a possible exit from the euro.

    “Greece confronts a serious social problem, a humanitarian crisis,” Juncker said after a European summit whose other agenda items were largely eclipsed by the Greek crisis.

    “This will not be used to fill Greece’s coffers, but to support efforts to create growth and social cohesion in Greece.”

    Tsipras promised Thursday to speed up reforms and provide a new list of measures to Greece’s creditors in coming days, following late night talks with leaders of Germany, France and the EU institutions.

    “As soon as this procedure is in place, a gradual disbursement of funds will be possible,” Tsipras told reporters in Brussels.

    European finance ministers may meet as soon as Friday to discuss Greece’s new list of reforms.

    Tsipras sought to play down fears that Greece could run out of cash to pay debts and government employees within days, insisting that Greece had “no problem with liquidity in the short term.”

    On Friday, Athens paid out some 2.5 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund and treasury bill holders, a source with knowledge of the transaction said.

    Today Tsipras will visit Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, where the pair will discuss their clashing positions on austerity and debt crisis management, and reaffirm their mutual goal of maintaining Greece in the eurozone.(SD-Agencies)