European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday that negotiations with Greece need to continue at a technical level. Speaking with the French radio station FranceCulture on the morning after a two-hour meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Brussels on Thursday, Juncker said he presented the Greek leader with a series of observations and proposals that the Greek side had examined on Thursday afternoon.

Asked if a solution is possible over the coming days, Juncker said a solution is “necessary over the coming days”. He added that “the ball is now in Greece’s court”.

Along the same line, Eurogroup Chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem told the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that Greece has no choice but to take some difficult decisions to secure new loans and avoid default. He underlined that the Greek side would have to accept that there are no easy solutions and that difficult decisions have to be made to avoid further isolation. He estimated, however, that an agreement was possible so that remaining bailout funds could be released by the end of the month. He said that Greece’s international creditors are still open to counter-proposals.

“The political decision could be made even tomorrow as long as it is credible and secures Greece’s financial independence,” said Dijsselbloem.