Germany has amped pressure on Greece with outright threats of default unless the country sticks to its painful austerity measures. German sources rejected Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem’s proposal for a 7.2-bln-euro tranche from the rescue package worth 172 bln euros, threatening Greece with insolvency unless it implements reforms. Speaking to private MEGA TV, German government officials maintained that “if a member consistently breaks its agreements, then the cost is larger than one bankruptcy.”

German Finance Ministry Spokesman Martin Geiger used harsh language against Greece on Monday just a day after statements by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble that said that a possible non-payment of installments by Greece to the European Central Bank would mean a credit event. “If (the Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis) doesn’t make the first payment on time, that’s a so-called default and I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes bearing responsibility for what would then happen to Greece,” said Schauble, urging Greece to meet its commitments.

Commenting on statements made by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras concerning the Spanish and Portuguese stands, Geiger said that it is unusual for a member state of the Eurozone to criticize other member states in such a fashion. He said that Tsipras statement “was a mistake that is unusual by European standards” where member states don’t involve themselves in the affairs of their EU partners.

Furthermore, Geiger explained that Germany has no choice but to be strict with Greece bearing in mind how trust has been lost over the last few weeks.