Greek drama

The Merkel-Tsipras smackdown

European leaders urge Athens to accept a deal when ministers meet Saturday, or risk default and ejection from the euro.

Angela Merkel and François Hollande handed Greek leader Alexis Tsipras another ultimatum Friday, a parting gift before he boarded a flight back to Athens after a week of fruitless talks.

“We encouraged him to accept what we all consider a very generous offer, to take the last step,” the German chancellor said before returning to Berlin. “We can only hope that Greece’s internal procedures will lead tomorrow to the agreement we are striving for.”

The three leaders met on the sidelines of a two-day European summit that failed to break an impasse between Greece and its creditors over the conditions for the release of further bailout money. Tsipras could barely hide his anger as he left the summit, expressing his frustration, as he has often done in recent months, in comments laced with pathos.

“The founding principles of the European Union were democracy, solidarity, quality of life and mutual respect, he said. “These principles are not based on blackmail and ultimatums.”

The back-and-forth underscored the aggravation on all sides, suggesting the prospects for a resolution are murkier than ever.

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Greece has another chance to reach a deal on Saturday, when eurozone finance ministers are due to convene another emergency summit. If that meeting doesn’t result in an agreement, Greece will likely default and could be forced out of the eurozone.

Merkel stressed that she and other European leaders still wanted a deal, just not at any price. She said that creditors had already made a number of concessions in recent months, beginning with the extension of Greece’s bailout program in February by six months, and that it was now up to Athens to reciprocate.

She said that she didn’t have a “plan B” in place if the talks failed. Asked if Saturday was the last chance to reach an agreement, she reiterated that the meeting tomorrow was of “vital importance.”

The divide between the two sides boils down to whether Greece’s budget in the coming years should rely on spending cuts or tax increases to reach fiscal targets set by Athens’ creditors. Tsipras’ leftist government wants to spare pensioners and other vulnerable groups from cuts and has proposed a series of tax increases on business. But creditors argue that strategy would further strangle the Greek economy.