Nigel Farage has warned the euro has created a "new Berlin Wall" dividing Europe between the rich north and poorer south, as Greece sits on the brink of being forced out of the single currency.
In a speech to the European parliament this morning, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras said Greece had been turned into an "austerity laboratory" by its international creditors.
"We demand an agreement with our neighbours that gives us a sign that we are, on a long lasting basis, exiting from this crisis and that will demonstrate to us that there is a light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
Greek MEPs waved banners bearing the word Oxi - or "No", the slogan of the anti-austerity camp in last weekend's referendum. Tsipras urged the European Union to heed the "resounding verdict" of voters who had given him a mandate to secure a "socially just and economically sustainable" resolution to the crisis.
Tsipras got a rough ride from many other MEPs. Belgian Guy Verhofstadt, shouting across the chamber at the Greek prime minister, asked him: "Do you want to be remembered as an electoral accident who made his people poorer in his country?"
However Farage said Tsipras should "leave the eurozone with your head held high".
"What we are seeing in this chamber this morning and indeed across the whole of Europe is an irreconcilable cultural difference between Greece and Germany, an split between the north and south of Europe," he said.
"The EU project is actually beginning to die. No one in this room will recognise that the peoples of europe are saying we were never asked if we wanted this. This has been foisted upon us.
"The countries of Europe are different. If you try to force together different people or different economies without first seeking the consent of those people it is unlikely to work. The plan has filed." Farage said the crisis was not restricted to Greece as "the whole of Mediterranean no finds itself in the wrong currency".
He added: "The continent is now divided from north to south there is a new Berlin wall and it is called the euro."
The Ukip leader said Tsipras has been "very brave" to hold a referendum on whether Greece should accept the bailout deal.
However he added: "But sir, you can not have your cake and eat it. They will give you no more these people they can’t afford to. If they give you more they will have to give other eurozone members more. So your moment has come and frankly if you’ve got the courage you should lead the Greek people out of the eurozone wit your head held high. Get bak your democracy. Get back control of your country."
European Council president Donald Tusk said: "Our inability to find agreement may lead to the bankruptcy of Greece and the insolvency of its banking system. And, for sure, it will be most painful for the Greek people. I have no doubt that this will affect all Europe also in the geopolitical sense.
"The stark reality is that we have only five days left to find the ultimate agreement. Until now, I have avoided talking about deadlines. But tonight I have to say loud and clear that the final deadline ends this week."