Operation 'Ochi': Zero Hour for Greece

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/greece-is-divided-as-the-referendum-approaches-a-1042045.html



Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has led his country into chaos. Divisions in Greek society are growing and Sunday's referendum may not be enough to pull the country back from the brink.

Operation 'Ochi': Zero Hour for Greece
By Julia Amalia Heyer, Katrin Kuntz and Alexander Smoltczyk
July 03, 2015 – 08:42 PM

On Wednesday, after Greece -- from the viewpoint of the International Monetary Fund -- had been in default for a few hours, Alexis Tsipras was standing in the Villa Maximos in Athens, his official residence, framed by a Greek and a European flag. He spoke quietly into a TV camera, perhaps looking a little more strained than usual. The country's banks had been closed for three days, and now the Greek prime minister was trying to reassure his people by going on the attack against Europe.

Against a backdrop of leather-bound volumes, he explained why the referendum on Europe's reform plans, which he had only just presented as a possible negotiating chip, should take place after all. "Now they are fighting back," said Tsipras. "They" were blackmailing the Greeks by closing the banks, and "they" were forcing "us," the Greek people, to suffer so that "we," the Greeks, would finally submit to their demands.

"They are lying," said Tsipras. It was an odd appearance, outrageous in a Europe that perceives itself as a union. "They are telling you that this referendum is a referendum for or against the euro." In fact, he said, the opposite is the case. In fact, he said, the creditors had offered "better proposals" since he had announced the referendum. And now, he added, it is a matter of strengthening his government's negotiating position with a strong "no" from the Greek people. His voice, said Tsipras, would be even louder "if you, the people, support me."

To say that the tone has become more abrasive in this dramatic week of a seemingly endless saga of rescue and ruin is hardly an exaggeration. In northern Europe, politicians lined up in front of microphones to explain how they felt deceived by their Greek counterpart, most notably Jean-Claude Juncker. The European Commission president seemed like an exhausted grandfather who had been deeply disappointed by a beloved grandchild.