Unprecedented details of the climate in European capitals after the Greek referendum are brought to light in the latest episode of the documentary “On the Hill”, presenting the first reactions of Angela Merkel and François Hollande.

The holding of the referendum had caused intense concern among European leaders, with the German chancellor and the then president of France closely monitoring developments and in constant communication in anticipation of the result.

According to Philippe Leglise Costa, an adviser to Hollande, who is quoted in the documentary, the two leaders decided to devote the day to contacts with European officials, heads of institutions and heads of state. Their aim was to avoid creating the impression that the referendum result was tantamount to Greece leaving the eurozone. After completing this cycle of communications, they planned to hold talks with the Greek prime minister.

In the same documentary, former European Union economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici is highly critical of Yanis Varoufakis and the choices made by the Greek government at the time.

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Moscovici argues that Alexis Tsipras entrusted the finance ministry to a person who, in his view, undermined the country’s negotiating power with its partners. He says the then prime minister was elected with the aim of either radically changing or overturning the existing programme, choosing for the crucial economic portfolio a minister who, in his view, weakened Greece’s negotiating position.