A "mini summit" was held in Berlin on June 1, between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, along with President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi and the general director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde in attendance, with the goal to establish a common position in the negotiations with Greece as well as present Greece with a proposal within the week.

In an article published at the French daily Le Monde (31.5) the Greek Prime-Minister Alexis Tsipras pointed out that "the lack of an agreement (between Greece and its European partners) so far is not due to the supposed intransigent, uncompromising and incomprehensible Greek stance. It is due to the insistence of certain institutional actors on submitting absurd proposals and displaying a total indifference to the recent democratic choice of the Greek people…"

Tsipras concluded that following the serious concessions made by the Greek government, the decision is now not in the hands of the institutions, which in any case – with the exception of the European Commission - are not elected and are not accountable to the people, but rather in the hands of Europe’s leaders.

"If some, however, think or want to believe that this decision concerns only Greece, they are making a grave mistake. I would suggest that they re-read Hemingway’s masterpiece, 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.'"