G7 Summit

Tsipras on verge of losing Juncker lifeline

A clearly agitated Jean-Claude Juncker warns Greece at the G7 that he can’t “pull a rabbit out of a hat” to avoid a default.

ELMAU, Germany — European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivered a strong rebuke to Greek leader Alexis Tsipras Sunday, accusing Athens of undermining negotiations over new terms for its bailout.

A clearly agitated Juncker, speaking to reporters at the G7 summit, said that he refused to take a phone call from Tsipras on Saturday after the Greek leader failed to deliver counter proposals to the latest list of demands from its creditors. While he said he continued to reject “Grexit,” a Greek exit from the eurozone, he cautioned that no one could “pull a rabbit out of a hat” to avoid it.

He said he made it clear to Tsipras that time was running out for a deal. When asked what the deadline was, Juncker responded: “Ask Tsipras what I told him.”

Juncker’s harsh tone marks a stark departure from the conciliatory approach he has taken towards Greece in the past and signals that Tsipras may have lost his only remaining ally as he tries tries to force a better deal for his country from creditors.

Juncker said he told Tsipras when the two met Wednesday evening that there “was room to negotiate,” but that the Greek side wasn’t prepared to engage in substantive discussions at the meeting. Tsipras promised to send proposals on Thursday but they never arrived, Juncker said.

“He said that he would send me his second proposal on Thursday, then Friday, then Saturday,” Juncker said. “I never received that proposal.”

Juncker’s remarks follow a scathing speech Tsipras delivered to the Greek parliament on Friday in which he characterized the last offer from creditors as “absurd.”

Juncker said he was “disappointed” by the speech. He said that Tsipras mischaracterized the creditors latest proposal as a “take it or leave it.”

“He knows perfectly well that is not the case,” Juncker said, adding that Tsipras failed to mention Juncker’s willingness to negotiate on Greek pensions. Greece’s creditors want further cuts to pensions, a major sticking point in the talks because Tsipras has refused to force further economic pain on Greek retirees, many of whom already live below the poverty line.

“He was my friend and is my friend,” Juncker said of the Greek leader. “But in order to maintain friendship one must maintain some minimum rules.”

Athens has been trying to win an agreement from Europe and the International Monetary Fund for months to access more than €7 billion in bailout funds. Greece’s creditors have placed strict conditions on the release of the money that Tsipras’ left-wing government has refused to accept. With the government’s coffers nearly empty, Greece needs the money by the end of the month to avoid defaulting on its debts.

U.S. President Barack Obama discussed Greece as he met with European leaders at the summit, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Sunday.

“What we have impressed upon both parties is the need to reach a satisfactory conclusion that we believe is in everybody’s interests,” Earnest said. “They all have shared publicly and privately that they share an interest in resolving this as well in a way that prevents significant volatility in the global financial markets and preserves the current composition of the European currency.”

But Greek officials continued to lash out at the creditors’ proposal on Sunday.

“It was an aggressive move designed to terrorize the Greek government,” Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told the Proto Thema daily, adding that the “Greek government cannot be terrorized.”

Such comments have poisoned the atmosphere between Athens and many of its interlocutors in Europe.

European Union Council President Donald Tusk, speaking alongside Juncker, said it was a mistake to cast the Greek debate in moral terms.

“It’s very simple,” Tusk said. “Greeks need money and creditors need guarantees that it will be repaid.”

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