As the flamboyant 53-year-old Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis tried to gain support to alter the terms of the European bailout that expires at the end of this month, his fiscally hardline German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble made it clear that although Germany wishes to help Greece it is also insisting that trust and reliability come first and foremost: a belief that if a country enters into an agreement it can be counted upon to honour and fulfil it without any excuses.

On his part, Varoufakis made it clear to Schäuble that Greece wanted to renegotiate its debt, reduce the required budget surplus and allow the new Greek government to cancel various privatisations, to which Schäuble sternly replied:

“We cannot simply waive your debts as if they don’t exist. We cannot let you abandon reform. Have I made myself clear?”

In reply, Varoufakis told Schäuble that the debt programme has brought Greece to despair. He insisted that Greek citizens voted for a better future because the savage debt crisis only brought misery. He reminded Schäuble that the Greek government need more time to work out a new programme and therefore is asking Germany to keep supporting the bailout beyond February 28.

With crystal clear words, Schäuble was quoted by the BBC as telling Varoufakis: “The best your government can hope for is extending the maturity of debt and let you have some breathing space for a tax reform programme. I urge you not to put yourself in a position where Greece will be forced to leave the euro. We would not wish this to happen but cannot prevent it under all circumstances.”

Varoufakis ended his two-hour conversation with Schäuble by telling him loud and clear that Germany has to respect the mandate given to Greece’s new government from a people not prepared to put up with endless austerity, to which Schäuble replied: “We urge you not to overplay your hand, Mr Varoufakis, otherwise, we will have to agree to disagree”.