Though form was preserved, tempers frayed and there were rumors that Varoufakis and Dijsselbloem had almost come to blows.33 Schäuble would no doubt have been happy to see Greece thrown out there and then. But a personal intervention by Merkel on February 20 secured a stay of execution, allowing the new Greek government, with the approval of the creditors, to offer its own list of reform proposals to replace the memorandum.
