Berlin is continuing to push for Greece’s extension to the bailout program, however this pressure has failed to dampen the spirits of the new Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government that has been trying to break down Berlin’s “wall” with meetings. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi and French President Francois Hollande. In these meetings, two points were made clear.

1) They refuse to discuss the possibility of a southern European partnership to pressure Berlin despite their own disagreement with austerity policies. Hollande encouraged Tsipras to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in person.

2) Greece should honor its commitments, however they did not insist on the implementation of the bailout program implicating that they may accept the initiation for the renegotiation of the package deal.

Through these meetings, SYRIZA’s hopes for a joint southern EU front against toxic austerity were dashed. The governments of Madrid and Lisbon were also negative bearing in mind that the collapse of the ideology that austerity could be beneficial would leave these governments irreparably exposed to their own angry voters.

The same is not the case for France and Italy who are seeking to use SYRIZA’s “mutiny” as a bargaining tool in the tug of war with Berlin. Sources state that Berlin called both PM’s before their meeting with Tsipras to put pressure and influence their positions during the meeting with Tsipras, offering favors in return. Indeed, Merkel was successful in this.

Reuters’  published a report where Berlin essentially demands that the Tsipras’ government remain steadfast in following the austerity program and accept the directions of clerks from the troika of EU-IMF international creditors. The same document pushed Tsipras to continue on the course that former prime minister Antonis Samaras agreed to follow.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s unprecedented intervention in showing support for Greece has alarmed Merkel and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble. Despite this, Greek plans were further torpedoed by the European Central Bank’s announcement that liquidity would not be given to Greek banks from February 11 (17 days earlier than planned).