In making his calculations, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras should be under no illusions that many in the rest of the Eurozone want him out. When he unexpectedly sprung a referendum on his European partners, they were outraged and quickly ended negotiations. Now, in places such as Berlin, Madrid and Helsinki, they see an opportunity to rid themselves of a troublesome leader. European leaders are lining up to define next Sunday's referendum. ‘The Greeks don't have to say whether they love the PM more than European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’ said the German Vice-Chancellor, ‘but whether they want to stay in the single currency or not, it's 'Yes' or 'No' to staying in the euro.’
The French Prime Minister said, ‘If Greece votes 'No', there is a risk of sliding towards a Greek exit from the euro.’ The Italian Prime Minister said the referendum was ‘about the drachma versus the euro’.
Mrs Merkel said, ‘Before a referendum is carried out we won't negotiate on anything new at all.’
It almost seemed that the German chancellor now wanted the referendum.
The European issues at stake are far wider than this rather narrow perspective; a strong domino effect could ensue from the referendum outcome.