Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s inaugural policy speech before parliament was followed particularly attentively within Greece, as much as in the European chancelleries — and no doubt in the White House too. Within Greece, after the European Central Bank’s blackmail and the continual attacks by the European leaders, there is a spreading mood of mobilization, of regained dignity, of a desire both to support the government in the face of the blackmail and to put pressure on it to halt any retreat.

Externally, and more specifically within the governing European circles, every word and above all every measure announced were weighed to gauge the determination of the prime minister and his government. Most expected a significant shift, prefiguring a retreat, which would facilitate a “compromise” during the European summits this coming week, which would in reality signify Greece’s submission to their diktats.

In this they were undoubtedly disappointed. For Alexis Tsipras, in truth, made no fundamental concessions. To be sure, he avoided using the term “cancellation of the debt.” But he strongly insisted on its unviable character and demanded its “reduction” and “restructuring.” True, he also failed to announce the immediate reinstatement of the minimum wage to its 2009 level (751 euros). But he did commit to doing so during 2015.