Bavaria's 50-year-old finance minister Markus Soeder was previously named by German weekly Der Spiegel as one of the Ten Most Dangerous European Politicians (defined as "every politician who is resorting to cheap populism in order to rack up domestic political points").

For the Greeks, this may well be true.

During the Greek government-debt crisis, Soeder was among the most vocal in calling for Greece to leave the Eurozone. By 2012, he said in an interview: "Athens must stand as an example that this Eurozone can also show teeth."

And now, according to an interview with Bild, the CSU politician said that:

...new billions should only flow when Athens implemented all the reforms.

Even then, however, aid should only be given against a pledge "in the form of cash, gold or real estate".

Soeder added, "We need a plan B."

One wonders if this was Germany's end-game all along?

Notably, Greek gold reserves stand around EUR4 billion while the supposed 'cost' to leaving the EU - according to TARGET2 balances - is around EUR72 billion...