German Chancellor Angela Merkel had told her personal assistant that Greece’s debts would still be unsustainable under the terms of the 2011 bailout agreement unless it received more generous assistance from wealthier states. Wikileaks reports that the National Security Agency had intercepted her communications:

“Athens would be unable to overcome its problems even with an additional haircut, since it would not be able to handle the remaining debt,” she said. Recent history has proven her right, however she continued to tell Greek governments, including Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the Greek people that Greece needs to comply with the existing prgram though she knows that the country is insolvent.