Another final countdown for Greece

AFTER months of wrangling, recriminations and negotiations Greece has being given its final deadline by Eurozone ministers to pay up or get out.
Following Sunday's referendum, which saw millions of Greeks flock to the polls to vote Oxi, or No, to austerity measures demanded by the Eurozone countries it was clear that the long awaited end was nigh. Tuesday's meeting of Eurozone ministers merely confirmed what the markets had already suspected.
Final deadlines for the Greek government have become something akin to a Rolling Stones farewell tour, we have seen them before and stopped believing the flyers. This time, however, it seems almost certain that the Greeks will have to make some drastic decisions or genuinely risk Grexit.
Following the failure in Tuesday of either side of this ongoing saga to reach a conclusion European Union President, and Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk warned that unless Greek officials presented a genuine and workable proposal to stay in the euro by Friday morning it would face bancruptcy.
The deadline comes ahead of am emergency meeting of all EU leaders On Sunday to discuss the possibility of Greece's exit  from the Eurozone. While this exit may not necessarily mean leaving the EU Sunday's meeting shows how seriously its possible exit from the Eurozone is being seen by member states both in and out of the single currency and its potential for Europe as a whole.
A bankrupt country within the EU would pose a risk for the bloc as a whole,  not just the Eurozone. Greek history shows a country where financial insecurity rapidly turns to domestic insecurity. Riots against austerity measures precipitated the rise of Syriza, yet by the standards of Greece's own reasonably recent history these were mild issues compared to Military Juntas and dictatorships. For European Ministers on Sunday the question of a destabilising financial crisis on one of its members and what it will mean for the security of the bloc as a whole will be a real issue.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already made it clear that Greek debt will not be forgiven. As the holder of by far the largest single portion of Greek debt, both as a contributor to European bailouts and domestic loans, Germany may hold the balance of Greece's future. France, which holds the second largest portion, wants a solution, however President Hollande is unlikely to push against the formidable Mrs Merkel too hard on this issue if he feels that the stakes become too much.
A possibility may be for a restructuring of Greek debt alowing for a longer period of repayments at lower levels. The International Monetary Fund has pushed for this form of a solution, having already had its debts defaulted on however this seems to be more focused on the IMF desperately wanting any chance of recouping its losses than supporting Greece.
For now the sword of Damacles hangs perilously over Greece. The thread which holds it is the new Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos. Already seen as more willing to negotiate than his predecessor and a safer hand on the economy Mr Tsakalotos' first week will be a trying one.