French ex-president tells Kathimerini Grexit was a real risk

In an interview to be published in Kathimerini’s Sunday edition, former French President Francois Hollande emphasizes how close Greece came to exiting the eurozone in the summer of 2015, while offering insights into the pivotal role of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in averting the crisis, as well as his own involvement in the dramatic negotiations that led to the agreement for Greece’s third memorandum.

“I was the one insisting on a search for a solution, but without Angela Merkel’s consent all my efforts would have been in vain,” Hollande tells Kathimerini’s Executive Editor Alexis Papachelas, adding that then US president Barack Obama also “pressed hard” for a breakthrough.