This Friday, Mr. Juncker claimed that any political discussions should be put on hold.
 
He went on to clarify that a deal with Greece is essential but for this to be possible, the technical negotiations must precede any political ones.
 
“The ball is on Greece’s side” said Mr. Juncker in a repetition of a statement made by IMF’s J.Rice.
 
It is noteworthy that the IMF representative, Jerry Rice revealed that the technical group of the IMF as well as the head of the IMF’s Greek program, Rishi Goyal, left Brussels on Wednesday since they realized that the negotiations were being made on a political level rather that a technical one.
 
Exposing his frustration, Mr. Rice said:  “We are not a political institution, we are a technical institution”.
 
 
At the same time, while talking to a Finnish newspaper J.Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup, claimed that Greece has no other choice but to submit to the tough decisions asked by the creditors if it wants to secure further loans and avoid bankruptcy.
 
On the other hand, Bloomberg chose to shine the light on a different aspect of the negotiations, Greece’s geopolitical importance as the southeastern border of NATO: “If euro-area policy makers overcome their frustration over Greek financial brinkmanship and cough up more aid, it will be in no small part because of that role.”