Who’s really to blame for the Greek crisis?

How important is Greece to Europe? The real answer is still that nobody really knows. But time doesn't stand still, and we are now moving closer to some very real debt repayment deadlines.

Athanasios Orphanides, former member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council, told me last week that he thinks the bank is currently in an impossible position.

He argues that while it's popular to blame the Greek government (which he says is partly justifiable) for the country's current issues, the main reason for the failure of the Greek program over the past five years can be traced back to May 2010.

Back then, the German government forced an "unworkable" program on Greece to protect banks from losses, Orphanides argued.

He said that Greece has been caught in a debt trap since then, and it's now looking worse for the Hellenic Republic than ever before.

For instance, Greek government bond yields are on the rise (the yield on the 10-year is currently at trading around 13 percent), indicating that investors think there is a high risk of a Greek default. By contrast, the yield on German 10-year Bunds is at just 0.07 percent.

Alberto Gallo, head of European Macro Credit Research at RBS, told me that he thinks a Greek exit from the euro zone - or "Grexit" -- is unlikely, with 80 percent of Greeks wanting to remain in the euro.

"Greece could very well have a cash shortfall: it can either choose to pay the IMF (International Monetary Fund), or it can choose to pay public pensions and payrolls. But it can't pay them both," he said. "We could soon have a period where Greece is not in default…but where it isn't solvent either."

(Πηγή: cnbc.com)