Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his close associates have recently sharply criticized some EU partners and the European Central Bank (ECB) for trying to “suffocate” the Greek economy, part of efforts, they charge, to blackmail Athens into accepting a new memorandum by the EC-ECB-IMF “troika”.

EC factions in Brussels are not just trying to force the new leftist government into signing a new (third) memorandum of understanding but are also calling for the application of the previous bailout agreement.

At present, the SYRIZA government has been far from satisfied with the official EU positions expressed on the “Greek issue”, having encountered few allies or positive reactions from Eurozone partners, primarily led by a pro-austerity Berlin, which maintains that strict conditions must still accompany an extended credit line to the Greek state — given that the latter is effectively precluded from borrowing on the open markets. Nevertheless, the current government is resisting pressure to follow the policy of previous governments.

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ message, in an article published by the Italian Corriere della Sera, was clear: “If they don’t accept our plan, there will be a problem… If, as Alexis Tsipras said, we are not glued to our seats, we can go back, to elections or hold a referendum.” The government quickly clarified afterwards that he did not mean a “referendum” as to whether to stay in the euro. A turn to a referendum would be linked to the volition of a majority of Greek voters (>50%) regarding any new bailout program.

It should be noted that SYRIZA did not deny the possibility of elections or a referendum in general. Other deputies of the radical left as well as Deputy Prime Minister Giannis Dragasakis have already confirmed that the government is exploring the option of a final decision, something that they did not choose in the first round of negotiations. The government was not given the mandate to agree to a referendum, hence it will create a problem for its credibility if it agrees to one.