Six days before Greece is due to vote on Europe's proposed economic reforms, President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker has aired his frustrations at a press conference in Brussels.
“After my efforts, I feel betrayed,” he told the media as he addressed the dramatic events of the last 24 hours - adding that he is "deeply saddened" by the latest developments.
He claimed that European institutions were open to the prospect of debt relief before Greece walked away from the negotiating table.
The Luxembourgian official accused the Greeks of playing one democracy against 18, adding that egotism, games and populism had undermined the debt negotiations and that officials from Athens have frequently delayed and altered their reform proposals to disrupt talks.
He has warned Greece that it needs to vote yes to remain in the euro, adding: "I say to the Greek people, you should not commit suicide because you are afraid of death."
The head of the Commission concluded: "I will never let the Greek people down, ever – and I know that the Greek people don’t want to let the EU down."
Mr Juncker had initially been perceived as one of the European officials who was sympathetic towards Greece - this changed after he accused Alexis Tsipras of misrepresenting the country's debt negotiations in an address to the parliament in Athens.
Again, today he suggested that the Syriza government is not telling the full story to Greek citizens, saying "it would be advisable if the Greek government told the truth" about the negotiations.
