‘Greece might no longer be a country by the end of this week’

There are only losers in the agreement clinched on Monday at dawn by Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and his eurozone partners. First and foremost the Greek people and the German and European leaders, believes the European press.

After a deal between Greek and eurozone leaders was hammered out following 17 hours of arduous negotiations, there is really nothing to cheer about, writes Michał Sutowski in Krytyka Polityczna. “With PM Tsipras’ back against the wall, the German government has pushed through nearly all its conditions; it’s a minor consolation for the Greeks that a ‘temporary Grexit’ turned out to be a negotiation stunt rather than a real proposal and that the restructuring fund will be located in Athens instead of Luxembourg”, writes Sutowski. He stresses that the negotiations have clearly shown the EU leaders’ goal was “to crush the Greeks’ resistance and not to reach a compromise” –

Angela Merkel had a chance to join the pantheon of the great, in a way, of “progressive” European conservatives. Had she forced through, against the German press and her own finance minister, a civilized reform package in exchange for a partial debt restructuring, she would have been on the same footing with Otto von Bismarck and Benjamin Disraeli. It seems though that she decided to become a ‘thrifty housewife’ instead.