Greece debt drama saved from eleventh-hour collapse

Germany's tough stance bothered creditors, with reports of an open row between Schauble, Draghi

Published Mon, Jul 13, 2015 · 09:50 PM

Brussels

DAWN was breaking over Brussels and after 14 hours of talks, Europe's two most powerful leaders were ready to call it a night. Greece would get no bailout, and the nightmare of a euro exit would come true.

"At 6 am (0400 GMT), France and Germany had given up, the night would end with no deal," said a European official who witnessed round after round of talks putting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande at the same table with crisis-struck Greece.

But then the key broker of the talks, EU president Donald Tusk, handed the German and French leaders an ultimatum: make a deal with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras right now - there was simply no alt…