The Greek Referendum Ten Years On
Dear Member,
This is our weekly roundup from Greece.
In this newsletter, we revisit the pivotal 2015 referendum, sparked by the recent release of the political leaders’ meeting minutes. The timing is notable, as Alexis Tsipras attempts a political rebranding amid ongoing debates.
This development also coincides with Angela Merkel’s visit to Athens, where she sought to portray herself as the “good cop” in the negotiations. Yet, many Greeks recall a very different story.
Through this lens, we explore the contrasting narratives surrounding those critical moments in Greece’s recent history.
Yes, it still matters
It’s been ten years since the 5th of July 2015 Referendum, a landmark moment in Greece’s modern history, when Greek citizens said “NO” to the bailout terms proposed by the EU and IMF. "NO" took 62% of the vote. However, the people’s will was not respected. Within weeks, SYRIZA agreed to the third Memorandum imposing further austerity measures.
Why does it still matter?
Because it was a rare moment when people overcame their fear and stood up for the country’s sovereign right to decide its destiny; they stood up to defend their dignity. All these, with the banks closed and a ferocious “YES” campaign underway that threatened them with the end of the world should they vote “NO”.
Because the SYRIZA government did not respect the people’s will and famously turned “NO” into “YES” by signing a new Memorandum.
Because the repercussions of all this were huge: It sealed the country’s fate by going down the austerity route. It has cumulatively impacted the country over the years, and the results are now more evident than ever in the country’s eroding infrastructure and standards of living. Furthermore, the psychological impact was massive and remains unmitigated, as people became passive, believing they could not effect real change.
Ten years after the 5 July 2015 referendum, in.gr (Opens in a new window) revealed (Opens in a new window)on 5 July 2025 the minutes of the Political Leaders' Council that took place the following day. At that meeting, former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras secured the consensus of the political leaders of New Democracy, PASOK, and To Potami, who signed a joint statement ahead of the upcoming EU Summit, in order to negotiate an agreement that, among other things, would keep Greece in the Eurozone.
Selected passages of the 110-page minutes were published - that is, the minutes were not published in full.
The revelation came just ten days after Alexis Tsipras called (Opens in a new window) publicly for their publication. It also came at a period when the former SYRIZA leader is attempting his political rebranding. He has already founded the “Tsipras Institution,” following a tradition of other political personalities.
A request to publish the minutes had previously been filed by former parliament speaker and current leader of Plefsi Eleftherias, Zoe Konstantopoulou.
The selected minutes were published by in.gr (Opens in a new window), owned by media mogul, shipowner, and Olympiacos FC owner Vangelis Marinakis. Back in 2015, Marinakis’ media had waged a ferocious war against the SYRIZA government and the “NO” vote, with Mega Channel leading the way.
The meeting took place following the overwhelming “NO” of the Greek people in the referendum, who rejected the creditors’ proposal with 61.31%. The Political Leaders’ Council was convened on July 6, 2015, at the Presidential Mansion by then President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos, with the participation of the leaders of SYRIZA, ND, PASOK, To Potami, KKE, and ANEL.
According to the minutes as revealed, Alexis Tsipras had stated: “Austerity measures that are unacceptable to society, without corrections, without secured funding, without debt restructuring, are a recipe for failure. My view is that we must all acknowledge this today.”
He also emphasised that they cannot deviate from the referendum’s mandate:
“If the aim of this discussion is not to find common ground, but to manipulate and turn the ‘No’ into a ‘Yes’, you won’t find me in agreement. The ‘No’ concerns an unsustainable agreement. Clearly, it is not a mandate for rupture, but neither is it a mandate for an agreement at all costs. I want to make that clear.”
President Pavlopoulos added: “In order to facilitate the restart of negotiations, it must be made clear from this council that the vast majority of the political forces have never questioned and do not question Greece’s course in Europe and the Eurozone.”
According to the minutes, Panos Kammenos -whose ‘Independent Greeks’ party participated in the government- stated that if the country’s political forces presented a jointly accepted position to the creditors, “no one in the European Union could refuse it.”
Vangelis Meimarakis, then president of ND, said: “I know what creditors and blackmail mean — I was present in meetings and negotiations. Especially in the second half of 2014, they were not just pressuring… this is not the time for a review, but I know first-hand how they behave.” He added: “Many New Democracy supporters also voted ‘No’ because they believed you, like I did, that a deal was coming within 48 hours.”
He also commented that if the referendum had featured Juncker’s proposal on one side, and Tsipras’s five-amendment proposal on the other, “there wouldn’t have been a real ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Everyone would have voted ‘Yes’ to your proposal.”
Similarly, the late Fofi Gennimata, then PASOK leader, reportedly told Tsipras that if he had put forward his proposal —the one presented in the Council— for a vote, unity would have been ensured.
Stavros Theodorakis stated that he had heard only Tsipras’s presentation in the Council.
“I would support your effort against the creditors without hesitation.” He also remarked that many SYRIZA officials “gave the impression that a rupture with Europe was coming. Of course, Mr. Tsipras, you cannot silence them, but…”
The publishing of the minutes stirred political controversy (Opens in a new window).
From “Go back, Mrs Merkel” to a poster boy of the mainstream
Despite an orchestrated effort to portray it in this specific way, the 2015 referendum was never simply a vote on a European Commission proposal. The “No” vote reflected society’s collective response to years of deepening economic and social suffocation. It was one of those rare yet magical moments in history when people unite to defy the powerful.
It was a moment when the Greek society was prepared for a rupture with the EU and its creditors. People had decided that a break, with all its risks, was preferable to ongoing humiliation and progressive impoverishment.
Tsipras, however, never truly believed in the “No” vote. He certainly had no backup plan to support such a path. This lack of preparation explains the government’s discomfort on the night of the referendum.
The minutes from the Cabinet meeting confirm that there was no political will for a break. Tsipras’ stance, mirrored by most political leaders, was to use the referendum result as a bargaining chip to gain leverage in negotiations, in order to secure the "best" possible agreement.
So, why did Tsipras call for the minutes to be published now? They certainly don’t portray him as a leader willing to respect the will of the people at all costs - or one who had a Plan B.
It would be rather naive to think that the former SYRIZA leader wanted the minutes to be released to bolster his standing with the public. His ongoing political rebranding suggests a different aim. Tsipras no longer seeks to appear as a radical. Rather, he wants to present himself as someone who never truly considered defying the system. Someone ‘reliable.’ Safe. Acceptable.
His goal appears to be to shed his leftist past and reintroduce himself as the politician the Greek establishment now needs.
One more important point: the minutes from the political leaders' meeting do not include everything that was said during those crucial hours.
In a 2020 interview, former Potami leader Stavros Theodorakis stated (Opens in a new window) that he had requested the stenographers to leave, “because otherwise, each party leader would speak with their party audience in mind. ‘The minutes will be published, I must not appear conciliatory.’ Meimarakis and Tsipras both agreed. As soon as the stenographers left, everyone began to speak more honestly. We were now accountable to the Greek people, not our party base.”
This account has never been refuted by any of the key political players of that time.
Merkel reflects on the Greek crisis - but what the Greeks remember is quite different
In a reflection on the Greek debt crisis, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered insights (Opens in a new window) into her decisions and interactions with key figures during one of the EU’s most turbulent periods. Mrs Merkel did so during her visit to Athens, which came just days ahead of the 10th anniversary of Greece’s 2015 bailout referendum.
Speaking about the 2015 referendum, Merkel revealed she was caught off guard when then-Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras informed her he would recommend a “No” vote. “I lost my voice,” she recalled, noting that a “No” outcome would mean a Grexit. “But we couldn’t decide for a democratic country,” she emphasized.
Merkel maintained she would not apologise to Greeks but would explain her motivations. “I cannot imagine the European Union without Greece,” she said, praising the “resilience and dignity” of the Greek people.
She highlighted her working relationship with Tsipras, stating that although they disagreed, mutual listening made a difference. Merkel also disclosed that pressure from then-U.S. President Barack Obama, who urged liquidity from the ECB, led her to tears. “Obama didn’t understand the legal constraints,” she said.
In a striking admission, Merkel said both she and then-Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble supported a Greek debt haircut, despite opposition from European figures like Trichet and Sarkozy. “They told me I was crazy,” she noted, though a softer voluntary solution was eventually adopted.
Reflecting on the early days of the crisis, Merkel described European uncertainty when then-PM George Papandreou told her, “I don’t want anything.” Criticised as the leader who refused to offer aid, Merkel defended her stance: “There was a no-bailout clause in the euro. I couldn’t act otherwise.”
History as it happened, though, is quite differently remembered by Greek citizens - and journalists who covered this crucial period closely.
“In the early hours of 13 July 2015, the East German-born Angela Merkel signaled that the game was over: Greece would be leaving the eurozone. She gathered her papers and headed for the exit. Bluff or not, she got what she wanted — everyone rushed to stop her,” journalist Kostas Moschonas, then Efsyn’s Brussels correspondent, wrote (Opens in a new window). “European Council President Donald Tusk tried to persuade her to stay for one final round of talks with Alexis Tsipras. France’s François Hollande, who was passive, asked her to reconsider. The powerful German media machine was then activated to project the message that it was Merkel who ‘saved the euro.’”
According to Moschonas, earlier, at the 2011 G20 summit in Cannes, Angela Merkel’s true approach to the Greek crisis was laid bare. Despite later claiming to have “broken down in tears,” Merkel, alongside French President Nicolas Sarkozy, greeted Greek PM George Papandreou with cold hostility. Libération reported back then that Papandreou was left waiting for two hours and barred from the press conference, symbolising the harsh message: “protectorate or humiliation.”
French Finance Minister François Baroin’s eyewitness account reveals a tense, nearly two-hour showdown, Moschonas writes. Merkel and Sarkozy warned Papandreou that holding a referendum would end any chance of a bailout. Under intense pressure, Papandreou eventually conceded, shifting the referendum focus from bailout terms to eurozone membership — a moment Baroin calls the Greek PM’s “political death.”
Sarkozy made clear European leaders were ready to enforce austerity even if it toppled Greece’s government, while Obama demanded explanations for the referendum.
Moschonas concluded that Merkel’s tears now seem little more than political theater amid ruthless power plays.
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The AL team
