Special reference is made to her contacts with the Greek prime ministers or to her current ones (26.11.2024) entitled “Freedom: Memories 1954-2021”. Angela Merkel in her memoirs also talks about her relations with the Greek prime ministers, George Papandreou, Antonis Samaras and Alexis Tsipras and about the meetings she had with them. As he mentions, he had nothing in common with George Papapandreou and records the dialogue he had with him. “At that moment I realized that Papandreou had not yet said anything, so I asked him directly: “What do you want? ‘ The answer was that he wanted nothing, but that Greece was in a very bad situation,” he says, and he adds, “When will you present to the Commission your plans to save the four percentage points of GDP?” I asked Papandreou. “This is a priority right now in order to get the message that they can trust you again to the financial markets.” Papandreou replied that he needed time. I didn’t believe in my ears. Amid this suffocating pressure to do something about the situation, he behaved as if he had all the time in the world ahead of him. We spoke strongly and at the same time, we spoke English, French, German. The interpreters barely had time to whisper our words in the ear.” With regard to Antony Samara makes little mention of Angela Merkel in her memoirs and uses no flattering comments at all. “His victory (Al. Tsipras) is due to the anger of many Greek citizens over the rescue plans of the euro… Antonis Samaras’ predecessor had failed to fully implement the reforms agreed in the second rescue program.” Her reference to Alexis Tsipras is extensive by Angela Merkel. Referring to their first meeting in Berlin in March 2015 he notes “I was looking forward to, I confess, seeing what kind of personality I would have had the opportunity to get to know better. He was 20 years younger than me. By then we had spoken twice on the phone with interpreters and had two brief meetings at meetings of the European Council in Brussels. He had made a good impression at the time. I knew from our first meetings that he spoke good English.” And the former Chancellor of Germany complements: “I waited for him at the entrance of Erenhof of federal chancellorship to receive him with military honors. His arrival was delayed because he considered it necessary to get off the car in front of the chancellery and personally greet the Di Linke party protesters. The voices “Long live international solidarity!” reached my ears from afar. I only hoped that his stay there would not last long enough to shade the atmosphere of his visit before he even started. Tsipras arrived soon and came down from the car with a friendly, disarming smile. I greeted him and made a brief remark on his preliminary programme. He responded with confidence and transparency that one should never forget one’s followers. I agreed with a smile. Countless photographers turned their lenses on us. We were under close surveillance.” In an effort to justify her attitude Angela Merkel notes that to the then Greek Prime Minister “I stressed my firm will for Greece’s stay within the eurozone, which required work from both of us. Already in the summer of 2012 I had thought a lot about the arguments of those who wanted to persuade Greece to leave the eurozone. They couldn’t talk me out of it. Since then, my position has been clear. Greece had to remain part of the eurozone. evicting a country to leave monetary union could have unforeseen consequences. Moreover, once a country left, the pressure on the next would increase. Moreover, the euro was more than just a single currency and Greece was the cradle of democracy. Nevertheless, I pointed out to Tsipras that there were conditions associated with his country’s stay in the eurozone.” It does not fail to mention what happened at their private meeting. “The impression I got was that Alexis Tsipras was completely open to cooperation and wanted to slowly feel his way into an unknown territory. This approach seemed very familiar and sympathetic to me. In the discussion with our partners and then, during dinner, we tried to find a way for the new Greek government to meet the requirements of the Troika without having to break election promises. Sort of a square of the circle. Before dinner a press conference was held, in which Tsipras and I offered a small communication work of art: friendly, appropriate style, both, no withdrawal from either. The differences were great, so was the will to find a solution to the deadlock. The referendum and the well-planned strategic Reference makes of course for the summer of 2015 which led to the July referendum and subsequent capitulation and characterizes Tsipras movements as a result of well-planned strategy. It records the surprise of European leaders, such as François Hollande, Donald Tusk, Christine Lagarde and Jean Claude Junker. Describing what happened at the June 26 Session with the margins being dangerously narrowed and the EU. pressured her proposal to impose new austerity measures Merkel says the Greek Prime Minister was silent until she decided to give him the floor: “”Alexis, you haven’t said anything yet. Are you going to take the floor?” “No, Donald has already explained everything.” “What are you going to do now? “ I asked surprised. “I will immediately take the plane to Athens and consult with my cabinet about what to do” he replied calmly. I kept my mouth open. I went around the table and approached Holland. He was surprised too. Both of us, like the others, had made a clear impression that Tsipras had accepted the outcome of the night negotiations. Tusk had also spoken on the same wavelength. I returned to Tsipras and asked him, ‘ What do you imagine will result from the consultations? ‘ “I don’t know” he replied.” When will you know?” I insisted. “I will tell you this today, early evening”. Hollande and I arranged for a tripartite phone communication. Tsipras told Holland and me that his cabinet decided to hold a referendum on the agreed programme. On such an important issue the people had to decide. He was going to announce it to his citizens in a television address that same night. So far, so good, I thought. Then I asked what was his government’s recommendation to the people. “No, of course” he just said neta. Of all the phone calls I have ever made in my political life, this one may have given me the greatest surprise. For now Holland and I are speechless.” Regarding the July 12 Session Angela Merkel reports in her memoirs: “Things were serious for good, Tsipras had in the delegation of the elite banking experts. The referendum was now past. This morning we agreed on the key points of a third rescue programme with funding from the European Stability Mechanism (EMS). For the sake of the comprehensive negotiations on this programme over the next few days, the European Commission has granted Greece a bridge loan. On August 19, 2015 Budestag voted in favour of the new Greek program.” She also describes her trip to Athens in January 2019: “I had dinner with Alexis Tsipras at a seafood restaurant in Piraeus. We spoke again about July 2015, when Greece’s stay in the eurozone was “at the edge of the razor”, as I told him. Tsipras explained to me that it was important to show citizens in a convincing way that the new government had exhausted every margin to get rid of the hateful troika. When the other Member States objected to this, it became clear that it was now an issue that was essentially about the attitude of the Greeks towards the euro. The majority of Greeks rejected the program, but wanted the country to remain in the euro. This was demonstrated by Tsipras’ re-election to the new, early elections in September 2015. The euro had proved stronger.”
Merkel: The disarming smile of Tsipras and the debate before the referendum – “No of course” – Papandreou and Samara failure
—
in Political