Greeks of all political stripes hope for a deal

Fotis Sarandopoulos and his wife are fighting for Greece's place in the eurozone. When the Athens middle class takes to the streets, the couple is almost always among them, waving European flags and loudly calling for a deal with international creditors. There are no party political speeches here - these parties look more like family gatherings.

"This is not about arguments over financial policy or economic data," Sarandopoulos told DW. "For us, staying inside Europe's inner circle is no less than a national concern. Imagine if Turkey and the western Balkan states join the EU in the next few years - and only Greece is pushed out - we can't allow that to happen. Whose side are we on, if not on the side of our EU partners?"

Despite the political excitement, they are of course also concerned about money. Sarandopoulos is a chemist and is worried because his company now has less work as important raw materials can no longer be imported. "Even if you have savings, you can't transfer any of the money at the moment, because all the banks are closed," Sarandopoulos said.

The 57-year-old is also angry at the unusual left-right coalition currently ruling the country. "These people are blinded by ideology! They're amateurs taking the state apart!"

Yes to Europe - no to austerity?

Alexandros has a very different view. He and his daughter are out on the street to demonstrate in support of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and against austerity. On Friday, the 50-year-old took a long journey to be here: he spent eight hours on a ship from the distant island of Icaria, in the eastern Aegean to the port of Piraeus, followed by another hour in the bus to Constitution Square in Athens. Now he is standing in front of the parliament holding up a large protest banner expressing his loud "Oxi": "No" to Europe's austerity dictatorship, which is what he calls the latest reform offers from Brussels.

Alexandros is an unskilled worker who feels politically close to the ruling leftist Syriza party, but he's disturbed by the fact that the government is still negotiating with EU partners and is presumably about to implement deep austerity cuts.

"The people's will is clear: over 61 percent voted against the spending cuts in the referendum," he said. "I can't imagine that we will be presented with a new austerity package."

Not that he's against a deal with the creditors - on the contrary. But Europe, he added, must show solidarity with Greece in the negotiations.

Daily demos

The island of Icaria has always been a special place for left-wing voters. Thousands of communists were forcibly exiled there after their defeat in the Greek civil war of the 1940s and welcomed by the locals. Other islands also served as places of exile for leftist Greeks. Left-wing Greek parties still fondly remember those times, which for them remain a source of resistance and defiance.

That spirit was also what seems to have inspired Alexandros in his opposition to the austerity measures demanded by Brussels. "Whatever they decide - the burdens must be divided fairly at last," he said. "It could be that only the capitalists profit from a deal again."

Rarely have there been so many demonstrations in Athens as in the last few days, before the decisive eurozone summit. Almost daily, euro supporters and austerity opponents take to the streets, sometimes at the same time. And that's unlikely to change any time soon.