Italian PM, Matteo Renzi, told Italian daily Il Messaggero on Sunday that talks must resume between Greece and its European partners after the referendum is over regardless of the outcome of the vote.

Renzi expressed his sorrow commenting on the image of a 77-year old Greek pensioner collapsing in front of an ATM in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city. “‘When you see a pensioner crying in front of a bank you realise that a country as important for the world and its culture as Greece cannot end up like this”, he said.

Renzi, who has tried to maintain a neutral role in the somewhat acrimonious rhetoric between Greece’s radical left SYRIZA led government and Germany, added that the Greek government should reform its pension system and crack down on tax evasion.  He insisted that Italy would not be affected by a potential Greek implosion.