Tonight at 8 (Greece time) there will be the official presentation of the memoirs of the former Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkelwho will also give her first “live” interview since the day she left the chancellery.

In Merkel’s book there are extensive references to the turbulent days of the financial crisis in Greece and the meetings the former chancellor had with the three Greek prime ministers.

For the first update he had on the situation in Greece, at the beginning of the crisis, from the former prime minister George Papandreou Merkel describes the discussion as follows:

“When will you present to the Commission your plans to save four percentage points of GDP?” I asked Papandreou. “That’s what matters right now, in order to send the message to the financial markets that they can trust you again.”

Papandreou replied that he needs time. I couldn’t believe my ears. In the midst of this suffocating pressure to do something about the situation, he acted as if he had all the time in the world ahead of him. We spoke intensely and at the same time, we spoke English, French, German. The interpreters barely had time to whisper our words in our ear. We recognized that all Eurozone members shared responsibility for the economic and financial stability of the Eurozone and agreed on five points, including calling on Greece to meet its debt reduction obligations.”

For his government Antonis Samaras says: “His (Al. Tsipras) victory is due to the anger of many Greek citizens over the euro bailout programs… His predecessor Antonis Samaras had failed to fully implement the reforms agreed in the second bailout program.”

For the first visit of the former prime minister Alexis Tsipras in Berlin Merkel says: “I was eager, I confess, to see what kind of personality I would have the opportunity to get to know better. He was twenty years my junior. By then we had spoken twice on the phone with interpreters and had two brief meetings at European Council meetings in Brussels. He had made a good impression on me then, I couldn’t say more. I knew from our first meetings that he spoke good English.’

He then describes: “His arrival was delayed because he found it necessary to get out of the car in front of the chancellery and personally greet the De Linke party demonstrators. The cries of ‘Long live international solidarity!’ they reached my ears from afar. I only hoped his stay there wouldn’t be so long that it overshadowed the atmosphere of his visit before it had even begun.

Tsipras did indeed arrive shortly and got out of the car with a friendly, disarming smile. I greeted him and made a brief remark about this preliminary program of his. He answered me confidently and eloquently that one should never forget one’s followers. I agreed with a smile. Countless photographers turned their lenses on us. We were under close surveillance.”

As he mentions in the conversation with Al. Tsipras, “I emphasized my firm will for Greece to remain in the Eurozone, which required work from both of us. Already in the summer of 2012, I had thought a lot about the arguments of those who wanted to convince Greece to leave the Eurozone. They failed to convince me. From then on, my position was clear. Greece had to remain part of the eurozone. Pushing a country out of the currency union could have unintended consequences. Furthermore, once one country withdrew, pressure would increase on the next. Also, the euro was more than just a currency and Greece was the cradle of democracy. Nevertheless, I pointed out to Tsipras that there were conditions linked to his country’s stay in the eurozone.”

At another point he states: “The impression I got was that Alexis Tsipras was completely open to cooperation and wanted to slowly find his way in an unknown territory for him. This approach seemed very familiar and nice to me. In the discussion with our partners and afterwards, during the dinner, we tried to find a way for the new Greek government to fulfill the demands of the troika without having to break pre-election promises. Something like squaring the circle that is. Before the dinner there was a press conference, in the context of which Tsipras and I offered one small communication artwork: friendly, approachable style both, no backing down from either. The differences were great, and so was the will to find a solution to the impasse.”

The critical Council in the summer of 2015 and the referendum

The relevant quote: “Alexis, you haven’t said anything yet. Do you intend to speak?’ “No, Donald has already explained everything.” “And what do you plan to do now?” I asked surprised. “I will immediately take the plane to Athens and discuss with my cabinet about what we will do” he answered calmly. I was speechless. I went around the table and approached Hollande.

He too was surprised. Both of us, like the others, had clearly gotten the impression that Tsipras had accepted the outcome of the night’s negotiations. Tusk had also spoken on the same wavelength. I returned to Tsipras and asked him: “And what do you imagine will result from the consultations?”.

“I don’t know” he replied. “When will you know?” I insisted. “I will tell you this today, early in the evening.”

Hollande and I arranged for a three-way telephone call. Tsipras told us, Hollande and me, that his cabinet decided to hold a referendum on the agreed program. The people had to decide on such an important issue. He would announce this to his citizens in a televised sermon that same evening. So far, so good, I thought.

I then asked what his government’s recommendation was to the people. “No, of course,” she said flatly. Of all the phone calls I’ve ever made in my political life, this one probably surprised me the most. For a moment Hollande and I were speechless.

For the refugee Angela Merkel writes: “Wir schaffen das – We will do it. No other proposition has turned on my ears as much as this one in my entire political career. To me it was a simple proposition. The expression of an attitude to life. You can call it faith in God, self-confidence or just determination to solve problems, overcome dead ends, will for something new. We can make it and where we encounter obstacles, we must try. That’s what I said then at that press conference about the refugee on 31.08.2015. That’s how I did politics. This is how I live. So I wrote this book. My experience tells me: everything is possible not only because politics helps it but also people”.