How Tsipras reached his decision to call for a referendum, and the call for a "'no" vote that has damaged relations with the EU in June 2015

01/28/2013

During the last minute negotiations Tsipras veered from one side to the other. Initially he moved closer to Syriza party leaders who favored an accomodation with the IMF and EU, yet with each rejection of Greece's proposals he moved closer to the confrontational postiion of finance minister Varoufakis. The IMF and EU negotiators considered higher taxes on business in the Greek proposals hurting long term growth, and insisted on pension cuts. Greece's negotiating team was still negotiating over details when Tsipras called off talks and surprised European leaders with his call for a referendum. His announcement that Syriza would call for a no was badly received by EU leaders and Merkel, leading to a breakdown in trust. The inexperience of 40 year old Tsipras and the faculty professor Varoufakis's lack of experience with negotiations, may now have damaged relations between Greece and Germany. The reaction in Germany to this is that now a majority of Germans see Greece's exit from the eurozone as the best option, and the goodwill of leaders in France, Italy and Spain may have been lost.

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