Mr. Colm McCarthy:

In a sense, I almost do not care too much about this issue, as one could argue forever about the Greek negotiating strategy. I refer not only to the current Greek Government but also to earlier ones. At a famous meeting with Ms Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy in Cannes, a former Greek Prime Minister, Mr. George Papandreou, suggested the holding of a referendum and was shuffled out of office. His government was replaced with a technocratic one. Although one could argue that the Greeks have not handled their negotiations and diplomacy with their European partners very well since the very beginning, the official lenders really ought to have a soul above this and say that since they are dealing with a small European country that does not have enormous policy-making resources, allowances have to be made instead of complaining about poor diplomacy.