President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker delivered a speech in Brussels on Monday that observers say has dramatically escalated the tensions surrounding a referendum vote in Greece next Sunday—a vote that could ultimately result in the country’s exit from the Eurozone.

With global financial markets responding to Sunday’s announcement that Greece’s banks and stock exchange would be closed this week and the imposition of capital controls has been ordered, the crisis in Greece—or ‘Grisis,’ as its become known—has now reached a fevered pitch. On top of that, the people of the financially devastated nation have been asked to vote “yes” or “no” against a deal put forth by the so-called Troika, which consists of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank, in exchange for the continuation of cash infusions and extended credit.

Telling Greek voters to vote “yes” in support of accepting the Troika’s proposal, the Guardian‘s Graeme Wearden called Juncker’s speech “jaw-dropping” in its implications. By telling the Greek people “not to commit suicide for fear of death,” Wearden says Juncker has “effectively told the Greek people that they are choosing between the euro and the exit door on Sunday, that their government has lied to them, and that he has been their friend and ally at the negotiating table.”

Meanwhile, on Monday the Syriza-led government announced that public transportation would be free this week in order to soften the blow of the economic situation and that certain banks would be offering unique access to pensioners who might otherwise face difficulty accessing their funds.

On Sunday evening, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made a televised address to the Greek people in order to explain the latest developments—including the decision to close the banks in the days ahead and to implement restrictive measures on withdrawals—and said, “the more calmly we confront difficulties, the sooner we will overcome them.”