Cantillon: painful reckoning in prospect as threat of Grexit looms

Every day brings fresh news of Greece’s increasing isolation from its creditors.

Months after Europe spurned Alexis Tsipras’s demand for . This is unlikely as ever to gain creditor support, and reports suggest officials in Germany and beyond are discussing what to do in a default scenario.

Only a fool would assume contingency plans were not drawn up long ago, but such plans now appear to be nearer the point of activation than at any previous moment in the saga. The fundamental calculation remains that any eventual “Grexit” would hurt Greece more than the rest of the euro zone, but can anyone really know?

The mood in Brussels is “sombre”, with little by way of optimism that any kind of a breakthrough is in sight.

Like finance minister Yanis Varoufakis before him, the smiling Tsipras seems increasingly isolated. This cuts to the core of the matter. The sidelining of Varoufakis a few weeks ago – and Tsipras’s assumption of a prime role in the talks – had led to hopes of a fresh approach. It was not to be.

At an EU-Latin America summit the other day, the only implict support for the Greek stance came via anti-IMF rhetoric from the leaders of Bolivia and Venezuela. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has described the negotiation chamber as a “torture room”.

Public warnings to Athens come amid private discussions on the consequences of a default on the €1.6 billion which Greece must pay to the International Monetary Fund by the end of this month.With IMF negotiators absenting themselves from the fray, it looks like final hands are being played. It should never have come to this. A painful reckoning is in prospect.