Galery

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The first summit entirely dedicated to the Greek issue took place on 11 February 2010 and, according to Zapatero, it was "daunting. Papandreou wanted to get more understanding than help. (...) And strongly willing to preserve national pride, he said that, for the moment, he would not ask for help, that he would continue to rely on the markets and that, seeing the European reaction, he was considering the probability of requesting help from the International Monetary Fund."

As is known, this position of the Greek government survived for a short while and it resorted to financing the memorandum in April. Several days later and just before the ratification of the agreement by the European institutions and the member states’ parliaments, Zapatero talked with George Papandreou.

"I talked with Papandreou on 2 May. He was exhausted but he spoke in a firm voice. He was determined to trigger the requested cruel austerity plan in exchange for a bailout. At the same time, however, he confessed with pain and some resignation that he had not felt sufficient European solidarity. He asked me to speak to Merkel. I promised to do so and I talked with her on Thursday, 6 May, a day before the extraordinary summit. (...) The next day the German Parliament had to approve the bailout to Greece. (...) The Chancellor, however, knew that the plan for Greece was not enough and that the markets were beginning to accept the idea of ​​the transfer. At the same time, the extraordinary summit had to take drastic measures to stop the attack against the euro and the considerable market instability."

"What do you want as a guarantee? Is it the Parthenon?"

Over time, the position of Greece internationally and its financial performance were getting worse. Its position was even more difficult because it depended on countries the governments of which wanted to look firm and steadfast in the eyes of their citizens.

In his book Zapatero speaks about the meeting in the summer of 2011 which was dedicated to the second bailout to Greece, mentioning "the severe difficulties posed by certain countries, such as Finland, with their endless demands."

He also states, "Those were perhaps the worst moments I had experienced among the European partners. It was three o'clock in the morning and we could not reach an agreement on the 0.25% interest, as they constantly wanted more and more guarantees from Greece. "What do you want? Is it the Parthenon or the Greek islands? How far do you want to go? Is that what you want as a guarantee?", Papandreou was forced to call out indignantly; they had pushed thus far this otherwise calm and moderate politician.

France’s "contribution" during the summit in Cannes

Zapatero’s book again brings to the surface all publications in the French press which, at that time, had repeatedly dealt with the excessive pressure upon George Papandreou exerted mainly by former President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel.

According to the publications of the time, Sarkozy was not hiding his anger over the Greek referendum that threatened to collapse the euro zone as it could lead to Greece's exit from the euro. According to "Le canard enchaine" newspaper, after the G20 summit in Cannes, the French President told his ministers, "Papandreou is an idiot (con), he is a real j..k (connard). He shocked us all from G20. In Brussels, he had told us that he would accept the bailout and then informed us about the referendum, without warning us. That was a low blow. This is really scandalous. And after all this, now I have to thank him."

According to "Le Parisien" newspaper, after the scandal in Cannes, during a meeting with President Barack Obama, Sarkozy described Papandreou as "crazy" and "depressed".

Indeed, as the Finance’s Minister of France at the time, Francois Baroin, writes in his book "Diary of a Crisis", the "thriller" for Papandreou in Cannes lasted two hours during which Sarkozy was so much beside himself with anger that he was yelling at Greece’s Prime Minister, "you are a f...ing psycho" and "you cannot humiliate the President of France in this way."